Tanya Chris's Blog, page 4

Now available: 12 Dates of Christmas

12 Dates of Christmas is now on sale for 99 cents and eligible for Kindle Unlimited.

Orion has devised a brilliant strategy for achieving internet fame—an Instagram campaign where he goes on twelve dates over twelve days, culminating in a made-for-TV happy-ever-after with fellow influencer and hot Brazilian model Afonso. Their pre-arranged fake relationship is bound to capture hearts and dollars, skyrocketing Orion from mid-tier to top-tier. His plan couldn’t be more perfect.

And then he meets Gustav. Gustav isn’t famous or devilishly dark and handsome. He’s not even on Insta. And he has an annoying habit of calling Orion out on his dubious ethics.

Now Orion is torn between fake fame and true happiness as he tries to continue his campaign while dating Gustav on the sly. The world thinks it knows a lot about Orion, but none of what it knows is true, and as Christmas comes to a close, Orion is wishing he could start the new year in a whole new way.

This 20,000 word Christmas novella takes place in a non-COVID timeline.

New free story: Hot Rod

Luke and Gino are racing for a trophy but also for bragging rights and certain bedroom favors. Who comes out on top? Find out in Hot Rod. Read now on my website.

Coming Soon: 12 Dates of Christmas

12 Dates of Christmas is now available for pre-order for 99 cents. It will release on November 17th and will be eligible for Kindle Unlimited.

Orion has devised a brilliant strategy for achieving internet fame—an Instagram campaign where he goes on twelve dates over twelve days, culminating in a made-for-TV happy-ever-after with fellow influencer and hot Brazilian model Afonso. Their pre-arranged fake relationship is bound to capture hearts and dollars, skyrocketing Orion from mid-tier to top-tier. His plan couldn’t be more perfect.

And then he meets Gustav. Gustav isn’t famous or devilishly dark and handsome. He’s not even on Insta. And he has an annoying habit of calling Orion out on his dubious ethics.

Now Orion is torn between fake fame and true happiness as he tries to continue his campaign while dating Gustav on the sly. The world thinks it knows a lot about Orion, but none of what it knows is true, and as Christmas comes to a close, Orion is wishing he could start the new year in a whole new way.

This 20,000 word Christmas novella takes place in a non-COVID timeline.

Happy Birthday to Manners & Mannerisms

It’s November, and Manners & Mannerisms is a tale of two Novembers. In the first November—2018, that would be—I wrote it. November is, of course, NaNoWriMo, and that particular November I had an ambitious goal. I would write two books. One, an omegaverse novella (which became Omega Released), and the other, a Regency romance. Which, let me tell you, is a balancing act. At least they were both in third person past tense, but the tone was obviously different. When I was editing later, I kept finding sentences where my wolves suddenly sounded like Shakespeare.

Omega Released got released a few months later, but I spent more time getting M&M to market, and that was primarily because I didn’t expect it to sell. My other foray into historical didn’t do well, and I didn’t have a historical fan base. On top of that, M&M is very Jane Austen—maybe a little stilted for modern readers. My beta readers didn’t love it, and I had no reason to think anyone else would. So it didn’t get published until November 2019, a full year after I wrote it.

I didn’t do a lot of research prior to writing M&M. What I did was read. I re-read every single thing Jane Austen ever wrote, one book after another. I started with Northanger Abbey on the way to GRL in Virginia (on audio), and by the time I was back home a week later, I’d read them all. I really like Jane Austen. My idea for M&M was to write what Jane would’ve written, if she’d ever written M/M with explicit sex. I think I succeeded too.

Anyway, the punchline is that the book sold better than I expected. Maybe because Joel Leslie did the audio. Maybe because it practically shares a cover (accidentally) with a Cat Sebastian book. Or maybe people are just hungry for MM Regency romance. It sells well, but not everyone likes it. Because it isn’t a Cat Sebastian book. It’s a Jane Austen book. So if you’ve ever wanted to see all the typical Jane Austen scenes—like picnics, balls, long walks, and dinner parties—only with two guys, this is your book.

Celebrating Diversity

I didn’t know Corey Alexander personally but I certainly knew of them. They were a Twitter fixture—the person to go to if you were looking for a queer romance, especially if you wanted something outside the thin, cis, white, abled, M/M, monogamous, Christian, neurotypical “normal.” Corey had an extensive—and I do mean extensive—catalogue of recs. They’d read it all and were ready to offer not only enthusiastic suggestions but also caveats and trigger warnings where appropriate.

Sadly, Corey was taken from us this year, a loss felt most especially by Corey’s friends and family but also by the entire LGBTQIA community. There’s a gap where Corey’s recommendations lived.

This time of year, holiday stories flood the LGBT market, and most of them are what I described above: stories about two white cis men celebrating Christmas. I’m selling one of those stories myself. But there are so many people out there who don’t fit that mold and who also deserve a happy holiday ending.

Corey wrote as Xan West, and their story, Eight Kinky Nights, is a great example of how to celebrate human diversity during the holidays. According to the blurb, it’s a “kinky polyamorous Chanukah f/f romance [with] polyamorous, gray ace, pansexual, Jewish, fat, autistic, disabled, arthritis, PTSD and depression representation.”

It’s a bit like one of those conservative memes about diversity gone too far. “Oh, now I suppose we have to have a gay Muslim autistic amputee lol.” As if there aren’t gay Muslim autistic amputees. As if there aren’t butch lesbians who are Jewish and fat and use a cane. As if those people don’t also celebrate holidays or deserve representation and a happy ending.

Authors who write farther from the edge of “normal” don’t sell as many books. That’s the sad truth. We like to read stories about people who aren’t too different from us, celebrating the holiday we celebrate in ways similar to how our own family celebrates. Which isn’t unreasonable. Christmas stories are a form of comfort, and the familiar is comfortable. But this season, let’s all try to expand out, to widen our definition of “just like us.” Because we are all us, and those of us who don’t fit in the most typical boxes exist, are valid, and are out there celebrating too.

Now available: Omega Reimagined volume 2

Omega Reimagined volume 2 is now available. $5.99 to buy (save $3 over buying the titles individually) or read with Kindle Unlimited.

Omegas… reimagined

Owen’s dreams are crushed when Prince Devin, the alpha he gave his virginity and—he thought—his life to, severs their betrothal and sends him back to the Western Pack where he was born.

Donovan isn’t an omega. He’s an alpha—a big, competent, ferocious one. So why does he have an irresistible and shameful urge to submit to another alpha in the most painful and degrading ways possible?

Daisy has come to North Leland to pursue his calling as a sex worker. He’s a feisty, independent, and intentionally delectable piece of omega eye candy. The last thing he needs is an interfering sheriff.

North Leland’s fight for equality and against Prince Devin comes to a satisfy end in Omega Reimagined volume 2.

Omega Returned: Best friends Alpha Fortis and Beta Keesh have been charged with getting Owen safely back home, but as they travel through the woods together, the lust they feel for each other and for Owen ignites, forcing them to figure out which two of them belong together and who ends up alone.

Omega Replaced: Alpha Tarek isn’t ashamed of his taste for dominating other alphas. Now if only he and the rest of North Leland could teach the strong, stubborn, and submissive Alpha Donovan that it’s okay for him to be who he is.

Omega Redeemed: Sheriff Quoitrel is only trying to do his job, which is to enforce North Leland’s anti-prostitution laws. Why does Daisy have to be the most tempting morsel he’s ever tasted? And why does watching Daisy service other men make his own desires skyrocket?

Volume 2 of Omega Reimagined includes Omega Returned, Omega Replaced, and Omega Redeemed, all of which have been published separately. This is a non-MPREG universe.

New free story: Boo!

Lathan hates being scared, so why is he in this haunted house? The only way he’ll make it through is with the help of a hero. Read now on my website.

Coming Soon: Omega Reimagined volume 2

Omega Reimagined volume 2 is now available for pre-order at $5.99. It’ll release on October 27th and be eligible for Kindle Unlimited.

Omegas… reimagined

Owen’s dreams are crushed when Prince Devin, the alpha he gave his virginity and—he thought—his life to, severs their betrothal and sends him back to the Western Pack where he was born.

Donovan isn’t an omega. He’s an alpha—a big, competent, ferocious one. So why does he have an irresistible and shameful urge to submit to another alpha in the most painful and degrading ways possible?

Daisy has come to North Leland to pursue his calling as a sex worker. He’s a feisty, independent, and intentionally delectable piece of omega eye candy. The last thing he needs is an interfering sheriff.

North Leland’s fight for equality and against Prince Devin comes to a satisfy end in Omega Reimagined volume 2.

Omega Returned: Best friends Alpha Fortis and Beta Keesh have been charged with getting Owen safely back home, but as they travel through the woods together, the lust they feel for each other and for Owen ignites, forcing them to figure out which two of them belong together and who ends up alone.

Omega Replaced: Alpha Tarek isn’t ashamed of his taste for dominating other alphas. Now if only he and the rest of North Leland could teach the strong, stubborn, and submissive Alpha Donovan that it’s okay for him to be who he is.

Omega Redeemed: Sheriff Quoitrel is only trying to do his job, which is to enforce North Leland’s anti-prostitution laws. Why does Daisy have to be the most tempting morsel he’s ever tasted? And why does watching Daisy service other men make his own desires skyrocket?

Volume 2 of Omega Reimagined includes Omega Returned, Omega Replaced, and Omega Redeemed, all of which have been published separately. This is a non-MPREG universe.

Out of This World Recs

Since I released Impossibly Fond, I’ve been looking around at what other M/M fantasies are out there, especially ones that have a humorous slant like Impossibly Fond does.

By Fairy Means or Foul by Meghan Maslow

I have to start with By Fairy Means or Foul by Meghan Maslow, which for me is the gold standard and the one that got me interested in writing a fantasy myself. This book has everything, including a hero who’s half fairy, half dragon—a pretty compelling combination, but one that Twig is struggling with.

He and Quinn, his love interest, don’t start out as friendly co-workers, but their partnership grows as they attempt to retrieve a stolen unicorn horn for Twig’s client. Of course, nothing is quite what it seems, but I won’t spoil it.

What I liked best about this book was the way it combined humor with emotion, so that I laughed as I went but felt totally emotionally satisfied at the end. And it’s the first in a series! So if it leaves you wanting more Twig and Quinn—and it will—you’ve got two other books to read.

Deven & the Dragon by Eliot Grayson

Eliot Grayson writes some of my favorite omegaverse books, so when I learned she had a fantasy, I had to check it out. Deven & the Dragon didn’t disappoint. It’s a cheeky Beauty and the Beast retelling about a dragon and his peasant love interest.

Fiora is the beast—cursed to be alone unless he can find true love—and Deven is the sacrificial villager who gets thrust into his hideaway home. Books even come into the retelling because Deven loves them and guess what? Books are what Fiora hoards. How cute is that?

What I especially loved about Deven & the Dragon is that the dragon is an emo bottom instead of the burly top you’d expect. Fiora’s antics are both adorable and humorous, and Devin is a good-hearted peasant with a randy past who’s down to fuck almost anyone but finds something more when it comes to Fiora. Good thing too, or Fiora would be dead!

Family of Lies: Sebastian by Sam Argent

I have to admit I haven’t read Family of Lies: Sebastian by Sam Argent because it’s not currently out on ebook, thanks to the Dreamspinner debacle. But it got recommended to me by multiple people whose opinions I trust, so I’ve got to believe it’s good.

It’s a story about a wizard and a prince and sounds a little similar to Impossibly Fond in that we have one thoroughly smitten partner and another who’d just like to get rid of him.

Family of Lies: Sebastian is currently available on Audible (from Dreamspinner), and I assume the author will republish the ebook again at some point, so I’m including it both as a reminder to myself and a suggestion to you.

Pilgrimage by Kim Fielding

There’s a reason the cover of Pilgrimage by Kim Fielding features a guy in his very modern undershorts. Mike lives in our world where the story starts, but he’s shortly whisked away to an alternate reality and he happens to be in his blue boxer briefs when it happens. Thus the cover is 100% appropriate!

Mike goes on a pilgrimage, making this a quest book as so many fantasies are, and Goran comes along to keep him safe. Mike mainly wants to get back home, but of course that changes along the way.

The story is told with all the humor you would expect when a modern guy who doesn’t believe in fairy tales suddenly finding himself in the middle of one, but like all good comedies, it has a heart of gold and a sweet resolution.

Red Heir by Lisa Henry and Sarah Honey

The best part of Red Heir by Lisa Henry and Sarah Honey is the wee dragon. Who doesn’t want a pocket dragon?

All right, there’s a lot more to it than that. I loved this not-so-merry band of travelers comprised of Loth, a pickpocket who’s masquerading as a prince, Grub, a prince who’s masquerading as your standard political prisoner, an incompetent leader, an enthusiastic orc, and a dwarf who’s sick of your shit.

As they travel to deliver Loth, the supposed prince, to the person who paid to have him rescued, they encounter all kinds of interesting challenges and people. It’s fun the whole way. Loth as the narrator has a great voice and a lot to learn, and Grub is everything you could want from a prince.

Impossibly Fond by Tanya Chris

And then there’s my book, Impossibly Fond, which has a lot in common with the recs above. There’s a lead character who needs to find his way both physically, in terms of a quest, and emotionally, in terms of growing up. There’s a love interest who’s pure gold and a sidekick who’s pure trouble. There are fanciful creatures, adorable pets, and a mission to be accomplished.

Waltham, a fledgling wizard, needs to assemble the ingredients to cast an anti-spell so he can undo the Impossibly Fond spell he accidentally put Ian under. Ian is happy to be fond of Waltham, but that’s only the spell talking, as Mindy the half-leprechaun, half-fairy troublemaker Waltham is trying to wring a pot of gold out of keeps reminding him. Waltham only wants his gold, but as with all of the stories above, he finds something even better along the way.

Now available: Impossibly Fond

Impossibly Fond is now available. $2.99 to buy or eligible for KU.

When a hostile leprechaun forces an inept wizard to flub the spell he’s casting on a mini-giant, the result can only be… fondness? Waltham has accidentally spelled Ian into liking him, and now his hostage/windfall, aka Mindy, insists he fix it before she’ll turn over the pot of gold she rightfully owes him.

Waltham’s figure is as stringy as his hair and his words are as sharp as his nose. He’s a selfish, greedy fledgling wizard with a ratty hat and a worse attitude. There’s no way someone as handsome and kindhearted as Ian would like him without magic in play. But as the three reluctant companions set out on a quest to assemble the ingredients for an anti-spell, a different kind of magic happens. Ian’s unflagging belief that Waltham is worthy of love makes Waltham begin to wish it were true.

There are grasshopper gonads to be collected, moonbeam crystals to be harvested, kitten tears to be wrung, and somewhere, at the end of the rainbow, a pot of gold to be collected. But if Waltham can overcome his upbringing and mend his ways, then maybe—once the spell has been lifted—something real will remain.