Thom Collins's Blog, page 13

Anthem of the Sea: Deleted Scene #2

Today I’m back with another deleted scene from my new novel Anthem of the Sea. Last week I shared a flashback moment to when my lead character Daniel Blake, just sixteen, auditioned for the boyband Overload. This scene continues that flashback, charting the rise and fall of the band. I really enjoyed writing these flashbacks, but for the purpose of the story, they weren’t necessary. In the end, I was able to get Daniel’s backstory across in a more succinct manner, but I love this stuff.
My long-term goal has always been a write a novel about a closeted 1960s popstar, that will be full of flashbacks, musical references and period detail. I’ve been researching the era and stars of the day on and off for years. It’ll be an epic story. 600 hundred pages plus. I’m not quite ready to go there yet, but it won’t be long. It’s a story I have to write. It just won’t go away.
In the meantime, enjoy this trip back to the music scene of the early 2000s.
Enjoy.


My handwritten first draft of Anthem of the Sea


Deleted Scene #2


The following week, at Sam’s insistence, he moved into a three-bedroom semi-detached house with the other boys. Sam’s boy band had actually been formed six months earlier and they’d been living together all that time. They had already recorded the twelve songs that would make up their debut album. Their first single would have been out by now, except Sam had sacked their lead vocalist three weeks earlier.
“The kid was a nightmare. I had to get rid of him before it was too late.”
“What? So I’m just a replacement?” Daniel couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He was on his way to meet the rest of the boys for the first time when Sam filled him in on their history.
“Don’t get precious about it. I could have put you at the front and got you to mime to the other fucker’s vocals. But I’m not gonna do that because you sound better than any of them. I want you singing lead vocals on all the tracks.”
“Those other guys are gonna hate me.” He felt really sick.
“Then you’ll just have to make them like you.”
Daniel had a week to pick up all twelve songs and record replacement lead vocals for the album. It was intense. As the newcomer, he expected the four original members, who were all a few years older, to hate him, but they were surprisingly cool about him joining.
“The other guy was a prize dick,” they told him over dinner one evening. “As long as you don’t turn into him, it’ll all be good.”
Ben, David, Christian, Luke and now Daniel were collectively known as Overload.
In the lead up to their single release, Sam sent them on an intense promotional schedule. They frequently performed two shows a night; school discos followed by late gay clubs. The set involved them performing high energy dance routines while miming three or four of their songs. Groomed as clean-cut boys next door, they were an immediate hit with their target audience.
The gay clubs were an eye opener for Daniel. He’d known since he was eleven that he was probably gay. He’d always fancied other boys but had yet to act on his desires. Now here he was, sixteen and still a virgin, being lusted over by horny men in the kind of clubs he’d only dreamed about.
“Don’t fuck the fans,” Sam warned all the boys. “No groupies of either sex. If word gets out your glittering pop career will be over before it starts. The teeny boppers don’t want to hear about girlfriends or sex scandals. They want you for themselves. Good boys they can take home to the family. Maintain that illusion at all costs.”
Sam determined that Overload’s debut single would be a cover of ELO’s All Over the World. Daniel had doubts about the choice but didn’t dare voice them. The original was a classic. Their version was clunky and cheesier than fondue. It got the crowds going in the gay bars but that probably owed more to the atmosphere and alcohol than their song. He couldn’t understand how it would fit on the current pop charts. Tastes were changing again. Steps had already split and S Club weren’t having the kind of success they once enjoyed.
Sam was undeterred. They shot a video for All Over the World and performed the song on every TV show that would have them. The promotion schedule was insane. The boys would be up at 4.00 a.m. to perform their song on some TV breakfast show. Then they were onto a bus, travelling round all day to sing in schools and shopping malls before ending the day with a 1.00 a.m. nightclub PA.
Their effort gained little reward.
All Over the Worldentered the UK single chart at number seventeen. It fell to forty-nine in its second week and was off the chart by its third. The boys were devastated. Though Daniel had little faith in the track, but they had put so much into its promotion, flogging themselves twenty hours a day, it was a massive disappointment to see it flop.
The song fared marginally better abroad. When it broke into the top ten in Japan, a five day promotional tour was hurriedly put together. The work load in Japan was even more extreme than at home. While in the east, Daniel shared a room with band mate Christian, who at nineteen was the closest to his own age. When they came back to the UK, Daniel was no longer a virgin.
It was no big romance. Daniel liked Christian a lot, he was fun and good-looking, a great guy to be around.  But a buddy rather than his big first love. They came together out of curiosity and a mutual desire to experiment. Daniel felt safe with Christian. He trusted him. There was no one else he’d rather lose his virginity to. But there was no great passion there.
“Let me know if it hurts,” Christian said, breathing softly on his face as he eased his hard cock inside.
Daniel opened his legs wider and held Christian tight, breathing deeper, waiting for the pain. It never came. Christian took his time. He was tender and careful and used a lot of lube. He was experienced, recognising what was good and what to avoid. When Daniel came with Christian’s solid cock moving confidently inside him, the power of the orgasm rocked his entire body. It left him dizzy.
“My God. I never expected it to be like that,” he gasped.
Christian kissed him all over his face. “You have no idea how beautiful you are, do you? Your face when you came, I wish I’d taken a picture to remember it.”
Back in the UK, Overload shot a video for their second single and began the promotional cycle all over again. Summertime of Love was another upbeat, cheesy pop song with a manic dance routine.
It failed to make the top forty.
Undeterred Sam Leferve pushed on with the album release. The songs were already recorded so why the hell not? The album was preceded by a new single. Sam took no chances with this one. The release would be a double A-side aimed straight at the Christmas party market. They had a change of pace on one song, a wintery ballad called The Coldest Season, while its counterpart was a ramped up cover version of 10cc’s Things We Do for Love with additional sleigh bells added to the mix.
“A drippy love and a tremendous party anthem. This cannot fail,” Sam said confidently. “Christmas number one, here we come.”
The single manged a slight gain on its predecessor, making number thirty in December. Their album, Overloaded, released the same month, failed to chart.
By his eighteenth birthday, Daniel’s dreams of pop stardom were over. Overload lost their record and management deals and the band fell apart.
“Bad luck, kid,” Sam told him over the phone. “That’s the way these things go. It’s a shit business when it doesn’t go your way. You’ll get over it. You’re young enough. Besides, I think you’ve got something. I really fucking do. Don’t give up.”



BUY LINKS: Pride Publishing: Amazon UK: Amazon USA: Kobo: Barnes and Noble:

Blog Tour: The Tryst by Monique Roffey

Today I'm lucky to be joined by author Monique Roffey, who has dropped by to talk about her new novel The Tryst.




Ten Things I Know About Sex Guest blog by Monique Roffey
Author of The Tryst (Dodo Ink) £8.99
 1.      Women don’t beg for sex because we’re hard to please and we’re hard to please because our sexuality calls for a more intimate way of relating during sexual lovemaking. Sure, a hard fuck can clear the air, can be exciting, but generally, we need a heart connection during sex. Head, heart and yoni are connected, in most women. We aren’t split off. We don’t compartmentalize sex and love.

2.      Women are genernally monogamous. Sure bone fide poly women exist, and I admire them greatly, in their ethics and their ardour. But most, of us, I’d say, have a heart that’s made for loving only one other, or at least one at a time.

3.      PIV (penis in vagina) sex, as a means of pleasing women, is a lie. A woman’s centre of pleasure lies in her clitoris, not in the walls of her vagina. To be on the receiving end of a man thrusting a way for many minutes can be not only painful, but boring.


4.      Men really want to please women. They mostly need a woman who really knows herself to show them how.


5.      One significant, and little discussed, difference between men and women is sleep. We all go through several sleep patterns every night, which includes REM (rapid eye movement) in which we dream and are paralysed. During REM, men, all men, get an erection. Yes, several times a night, sleep arouses them. Hence men, most men, wake up with a boner, a cockstand; every morning. This can be welcome or unwelcome for most women. It’s a big difference in our sexuality. Men want to fuck first thing in the morning, every morning. Do we?


6.      Oxytocin. Don’t get me started. This is the chemical which bonds families and couples. We women secrete more of it than men. It’s the reason why, after an intimate encounter, we already feel loved and up men don’t. Because we secrete this chemical in much great quantities. Women need to know this, and take note. It is the biggest reason why the playing field around sex isn’t even. Oxytocin. We tend to love more and openly and easily than men and we need to take care of ourselves if we wish to be successful lovers and be successfully promiscuous.  


7.      Bliss. We seek sex for moments of bliss. And moments of bliss elevate us and we touch the Divine. Sexual seekers, like me, aren’t necessarily seeking sex, but a connection to the Divine.


8.      A great erotic love can strike at any time in our lives. I know, now, that it also takes a great amount of skill and maturity to maintain and withstand this type of love.


9.      Eros is a trickster. You are stuffed if he strikes you with his arrow. Reason is left behind. You will be in for a bumpy ride. Get help.


10.  You will love again after a great love has passed. You will heal, get over it, and learn, and the next time your heart opens and you sex again, you will be a little more careful. We get better and managing sexual love affairs, not worse. We grow, we learn, and we are always ready to do it again.




The Tryst, (Dodo Ink)
extract

Before lunch we had sex again on the kitchen floor. Quickly, this time, me riding him. Oh, I like to be on top, to be the domina, the one who hostesses the show, who stages all the stunts with human males. I am the party thrower, the orgy mistress. I gave him a good fuck, massaging his cock with the muscles of my cunt, and the energy of him rose upwards through me and lit me up. This Bill was made to fit me and I was made to fit him; somehow I’d stumbled across him, this Adam. At first glance he was just a primary model: Husband, Father, the Average White English Male. Homme Vanille. Marks and Spencer Man. Nothing remarkable. Nicely castrated by the middle class feminists, cured of any alpha tendencies. He had been trained not to be dominant. Isn’t that what feminism has done, it has laughed the alpha males out of town. Masculinity is in crisis, say the clever ones these days. Feminism equalised women in the workplace and put men in the shed, where I found Bill. The male alpha doms went underground, thousands of them, to Internet fetish sites and their private dungeons and the like. There, many of my sistren operate, daemon-killers like me. Professional Dommes. Strangulators, ball kickers. Experts in humiliation, bestiality, fucking men up the ass with their strap-ons. Torturing testicles till they turn blue. We Lilatha exist in the shadows, in the twilight; we are around if you look for us. Many men do, those who like to submit. And they keep quiet when they find us. Few imps, like me, stalk the pavements in full view. That’s my kink, to fuck The Innocents, men like Bill. I like to dominate Mr Everyday.
        And yet, as I had happily discovered, Bill had secret charms and abilities after all. My assessment had been wrong. I rode Bill hard, forging a twinned ecstasy between us. We groaned and writhed, both of us dying afterwards. I laughed with glee, at how Bill gasped for breath. “You’re lovely,” he gasped. I licked my fingers, tasting his bitter-salt cum. “So are you,” I winked. “Feed me now, I’m starving.”
        Lunch was delicious and replenishing. We fell on fruit and gooey chocolate cake and ice cream and opened a bottle of red wine. I put on one of his vinyl jazz records and danced around naked. I’ll stay one more hour, I told myself. One more hour, just one. Janey-Wife has gone, this house is mine and we still want to fuck. I am not yet sated. Greedy thing I was, greedy for his cock. Bill couldn’t keep his eyes off me, he was entangled – miserably unsure of himself. Distant and yet high on that fuck-chemical of serotonin. It was coursing through him. It was like watching a new drug addict and any minute I might have to catch him from slumping to the floor. He was lust-drunk. But I wasn’t. I’d provoked this altered state in men many times before; I had left many husbands in this condition. Usually I fled well before this point. But I was still enjoying myself, still very much the sprite.
        I danced naked for a while. Human men love to watch women dance in the nude and very few modern human women do. It is a dead art, relegated to the dim caverns and glossy tables of the lap dancing club. Burlesque strip-joints. Once, it was an art of the courtly harem and the well-paid hetaera; once it was part of Bohemia, of a social stratum of free thinkers and free lovers. Men have danced naked too, for women and other men. There is a long tradition of the Lust Arts. I find this an omission on the part of modern womankind as naked dancing puts men in a state of awe and gratitude. The Wife won’t do it, never did. Oh, human women divide their nature. Mother. Wife. Whore. They do not integrate. Good girls and bad. Few celebrate that they are both. So there I was rubbing myself and licking my lips, caressing my breasts, my hips, sliding my hand down between my legs. It was an act, a naked tease. This was one of my many carnival tricks. I have worked in burlesque clubs, learnt the art of grinding and wriggling, stripping off stockings, gloves. Doing what American strippers call ‘ass work’, removing strings of pearls from my pussy. I have a strong muscular vagina, able to pulse and milk my men. But I do not possess the agility of hookers in the bars and lap dancing clubs of the Orient. I cannot shoot ping-pong balls across the room. I surprised Bill with three small but succulent beetroot I had found in the fridge, already peeled and boiled. I dripped the purple ink over my quim, inserting them one by one, dancing them up and in. He laughed out loud and clapped for me and I took a bow. He knelt for me and ate as I released each soft warm beet into his mouth.
        More, he whispered.
        And I complied, oh, with cucumbers and carrots and the like. Bill was rock hard throughout. I loved his cock, thick and uncircumcised. The tip glistened. At one point, I knelt in front of Bill and took his balls into my mouth and swirled them round. He trusted me more with his jewels this time. He poured wine over my face and I drank and sucked and his cock was huge and solid and he stroked himself and dripped cum over my face, rubbed it into my hair. Then he was sitting on a counter top, his jeans unbuckled, his thighs bare, his cock like a tower. Me on tiptoe, with my mouth all over him, my head bobbing, all the while kneading his scrotum and his hand reaching down, stroking me, catching the drips. Then, his body juddered, as if Aphrodite herself was stroking the kundalini up from his genitals and up his back. His cum flew in hot spurts, white and pearly, splattering his stomach, the fruit bowl, everywhere. And I came too, my cum cascaded like a torrent to the floor, not a cupful, as usual, but a warm wave fell from that secret reservoir. Like I had urinated, except it was translucent and salt-sweet to taste. And with this release, I began to feel altered. I shouldn’t be here; I should have left.Bill reached down and cupped the small of my back as I shuddered. My orgasm swamped us both. I looked up at Bill and saw his eyes glittering. Oh Christ, he whispered. I could see that he had recognised me. I was Wife No 1. My cover was blown. It was then I whispered my real name to him in my language and he nodded.


The Tryst By Monique RoffeyBlurbLondon, midsummer night. Jane and Bill meet the mysterious Lilah in a bar. She entrances the couple with half-true, mixed up tales about her life. At closing time, Jane makes an impulsive decision to invite Lilah back to their home. But Jane has made a catastrophic error of judgment, for Lilah is a skilled and ruthless predator, the likes of which few encounter in a lifetime. Isolated and cursed, Jane and Bill are forced to fight for each other, and, in doing so, discover their covert desires.
Part psychological thriller, part contemporary magical realism, The Trystrevisits the tale of Adam’s first wife, Lilith, to examine the secrets of an everyday marriage.
Praise for The Tryst
“What makes The Tryst an unexploded virus isn’t just the quality and brightness of Roffey’s writing on sex, even as it uncovers inner glades between flesh and fantasy where sex resides – but the taunting clarity of why those glades stay covered. A throbbing homewrecker of a tale, too late to call Fifty Shades of Red.”
DBC Pierre, Booker Prize winner

BIOG
Monique Roffey is an award-winning Trinidadian-born writer. Her novels have been translated into five languages and short-listed for major awards including
the Orange Prize, Costa Fiction Award, Encore Award, Orion Award and the OCM Bocas Award for Caribbean Literature. In 2013, Archipelago won the OCM BOCAS Award for Caribbean Literature. Her memoir, With the Kisses of his Mouth, was published in 2011. She is a Lecturer on the MFA in the Novel at Manchester Metropolitan University. She divides her time between the East end of London and Port of Spain, Trinidad.


Buy at Amazon:
UK: http://amzn.to/2snABX2 US: https://www.amazon.com/Tryst-Monique-Roffey-ebook/dp/B072BX51PV/
Book trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esSTfsbP3P4&sns=em
Twitter: @MoniqueRoffey13
Facebook: @MoniqueRoffeyAuthor
Instagram: @MoniqueRoffey
Website: www.moniqueroffey.com

Anthem #1: Deleted Scenes

Anthem of the Sea came out last week. To my surprise and gratitude, it’s attracted some fantastic reviews. Check out two of my favourites from Sinfully and Diverse Reader.
Sinfully Review
Diverse Reader Review
I’m thrilled at how well the book has been received. It seems so long ago since I started work on the Anthem Trilogy. In order to do something different with this blog I thought I’d share some of the deleted scenes from Anthem #1 over the coming weeks. The original version of the book was a lot longer than what we released. There was a lot of backstory, flashbacks, additional characters, all that kind of stuff, a lot of which I loved, but in order to get the story moving and maintain a fast pace, I ended up cutting a fair bit. So why not share some of the deleted stuff here?
This is a scene from early on. Originally, I told a lot of Daniel’s backstory in flashback. Those scenes were huge fun to write but ultimately I decided I could still tell the story without them. This is the very first flashback to be cut. Daniel is sixteen and auditioning for the boyband Overload.
Enjoy.

Anthem of the Sea First Draft in Progress

DELETE SCENE
“Are you sure about this Daniel?”
The answer was a very definite no, but sixteen-year-old Daniel Blake would not admit that to his mother. Not after the long trek to London, getting up at 5.00 a.m. to take the early train so he could make the audition for 11.00. He’d scarcely slept in days, so hyped up about the phone call he received on Monday, inviting him to audition that weekend.
It didn’t bother him that the audition process was less prestigious than he’d built up in his mind. They took over half an hour to find the studio, wandering up and down dark back alleys until they found the graffiti stained, battered door. The receptionist was just as unwelcoming as she ticked his name off a list and gave him a bored wave towards the waiting room which was small, hot and very crowded. His mother looked disdainfully at the tattered upholstery of the chairs before sitting down.
There were fifteen other boys waiting to go in. Daniel watched them with dismay. They were so much older than him. And bigger, with their sleeveless shirts and rippling muscles, their tattoos and mahogany suntans. He was a dweeb compared to these guys.
He didn’t stand a chance.
But the morning wore on and the guys went in one by one. So confident to begin with; walking – no, strutting – into the audition room, they came out broken men. Two of them were crying.
“That bloke in there,” blubbered a camp Mancunian with bleached white hair and a nose piercing, “he’s a lunatic. No; he’s the fucking devil.”
“I didn’t want to be in your shitty fucking boy band anyway!” shrieked the next evictee from the audition room.
His mother watched with a furrowed brow. “Maybe this is not for you son. We can still go for tea at the Waldorf and catch the late train home. You’ve got that audition for Mamma Mia next month. I’m sure it’ll be much nicer than this.”
“No,” he asserted. “We’ve come all this way. I want to do this.” He’d heard you needed thick skin to get anywhere in show business. To get out there and pick yourself up when you were knocked down. You had to go to as many auditions as you could to build up that kind of resistance. If nothing else this would help him prepare for the Mamma Mia audition.
Still, he was shitting himself when they finally called his name.
“Good luck,” his mother said. She looked even sicker than he did.
Daniel stepped into a small studio. Floor to ceiling mirrors reflected his terrified features back him. An excessively fat man in a pink, short sleeved T-shirt sat behind a table that was scattered with resumes and photographs. A second man, much thinner, sat at a keyboard player to one side.
“Which one are you again?” the fat man demanded, observing him with cold, piggy eyes.
“Daniel,” he croaked. He coughed to clear his throat. “Daniel Blake.”
The man rummaged through the papers on his table before snatching one close to his face and reading carefully. “Oh, yes,” he said at last, looking at Daniel with renewed interest. “Our little chicken. You’re the youngest boy we’ve seen. What do you think about that, little chicken?”
“F… fine,” he sputtered. “Robbie Williams was only sixteen when he joined Take That.”
The man sucked sharply through his teeth. “The less said about him, the better. Okay then, my name’s Sam Leferve. You’ve probably already heard of me. That over there, is David. He’ll play your accompaniment. We’re auditioning for a boy band but you already know that. I’m sick of hearing my own voice today so let’s here you sing. If I like what I hear I’ll tell you more. Now sing. And don’t be shit.”
Daniel sang the Gallagher and Lyle song Heart on My Sleeve. It was an oldie, one of his mother’s favourites, and he’d always loved it. The vulnerable timbre of his voice suited the song and he dared to believe as he sang it, that Sam was impressed by the way he handled the difficult melodies.
“Well, that makes a change to fucking Angels,” Sam said when he finished. “If I had a pound for every time I’ve heard that shit, today alone, I’d be a very rich, old bastard. When you mentioned Robbie Williams, I feared the worst. But that was good kid, superb. Let me hear you try something a bit more upbeat, a bit more up to date.”
For his second song, he performed Kylie Minogue’s On A Night Like This. Not an obvious choice for a boy to sing but it allowed him to show off his upper register and pop sensibilities. By the time he finished, Sam Leferve was smiling.
“You little wonder,” Sam said, getting excitedly up from his chair. “You fucking beauty. I love it.”
Sam Leferve made his name in the 1980s. First as a producer of HI-NRG disco records, then as the manager for a bunch of big voiced divas who sung vocals on his tracks. The 1990s were not so kind as pop went out of fashion and his out-dated acts floundered, but by the early 2000s pop was huge again with acts like Steps and S Club 7 topping the charts. Sam, who’d invested his money in a couple of gay bars and quietly oversaw their management, knew the time was right for his return to music. Boy/girl combs were all the rage but he had no interest in managing young girls, with their bitchiness and back-stabbing; a boy band was what he really wanted. He set out to find five perfectly cute guys that the gays and the girls would rave about.
By the end of his first audition, Daniel had made it into the band.

BUY LINKS: Pride Publishing: https://www.pride-publishing.com/book/anthem-of-the-sea Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Anthem-Sea-Thom-Collins-ebook/dp/B0725JDM29/ Amazon USA: https://www.amazon.com/Anthem-Sea-Thom-Collins-ebook/dp/B0725JDM29 Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/anthem-of-the-sea Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/anthem-of-the-sea-thom-collins/1126384702?ean=9781786515681

Anthem of the Sea Release Details

Next Tuesday – 20th June – is the general release date for my novel Anthem of the Sea. The book will be available in all ebook formats as well as paperback. I’ll post an updated list of links when the book goes live. I’m also embarking on a blog tour to promote the release. Across the week I’ll be appearing at the following venues:


20th June  Sinfully http://sinfullymmbookreviews.blogspot.co.uk/ARRA https://australianromancereaders.wordpress.com/

Diverse Reader http://diversereader.blogspot.co.uk/
21st June                Love Bytes http://lovebytesreviews.com/
22nd June               Because Two Men Are Better Than One https://becausetwomenarebetterthanone.com/
23rd June                         Divine Magazine https://www.divinemagazine.biz/


Many thanks to all the blog owners who are hosting this.
If you can’t wait till Tuesday and want to get started on the book this weekend, don’t forget you can get an early download direct from Pride Publishing RIGHT HERE.


It’s been a busy few weeks and there’s no sign of anything slacking off. I’m about 17,000 words into writing Anthem 3. As many of you know I do most of my writing longhand so it’s a slow process but definitely worth it. I love where the final part of the trilogy is going. This weekend is also my wedding anniversary, so as well as celebrating the release of Anthem of the Sea, I’ll be celebrating 11 years of marriage. July is looking to be quite hectic. We’ve got some home renovation work coming up that’s expected to last three weeks. The work is long overdue but will have a significant impact on my process with Anthem 3. I need peace, quiet and order to write best. I can’t see living in a building site being conducive to that. The local coffee shops might be sick of the sight of me by the end of it.
Until next time xxxx

Release Blitz: Doctor's Orders by Lucy Felthouse

Doctor’s Orders by Lucy Felthouse Now Available in Audiobook Format! #audiobook #audible #gay #romance #kink
Lucy Felthouse’s M/M erotic romance novella, Doctor’s Orders, is now available in audiobook format. Narrated by voice artist Peter Revel-Walsh, you can now listen to this kinky BDSM tale on the go!


Doctor’s Orders Blurb:
Hospital porter Aaron Miller isn’t expecting a very exciting birthday. He and his doctor boyfriend, Blake Colville, are working opposite shifts, leaving Aaron to go home to an empty house and the prospect of another shift the following day. Just as he’s leaving work, however, an unexpected sexy encounter in a supply cupboard leaves him feeling in a much more celebratory mood. And an impending dirty weekend away with Blake just puts the icing on the non-existent cake. But who needs cake when you’re dating a dominant doctor?
Audio links:
Amazon UK
Amazon US:
Audible UK
Audible US
iTunes UK
iTunes US
eBook available here: http://lucyfelthouse.co.uk/published-works/doctors-orders/
*****
Author Bio:
Lucy Felthouse is the award-winning author of erotic romance novels Stately Pleasures (named in the top 5 of Cliterati.co.uk’s 100 Modern Erotic Classics That You’ve Never Heard Of, and an Amazon bestseller), Eyes Wide Open (winner of the Love Romances Café’s Best Ménage Book 2015 award, and an Amazon bestseller) and The Persecution of the Wolves. Including novels, short stories and novellas, she has over 160 publications to her name. She owns Erotica For All, and is one eighth of The Brit Babes. Find out more about her writing at http://lucyfelthouse.co.uk, or on Twitter or Facebook. Sign up for automatic updates on Amazon or BookBub. Subscribe to her newsletter and get a free eBook: http://www.subscribepage.com/lfnewsletter


Release blitz hosted by Writer Marketing Services.

The Men of Silent Voices

As Silent Voices was released last week, I thought I’d do something different today and give readers an insight into the main characters and what makes them so special to me.


Josh Jackson is the protagonist. The guy who gets the story going. Josh is an independent business man who runs a successful restaurant called The Cellar Steps. There’s a lot of me in Josh’s character. He’s the kind of man I’d like to be in another life. If I hadn’t gotten into writing and criminal justice, The Cellar Steps is exactly the kind of business I would like. He’s a smart guy and loyal to his friends and family. His concern for his young cousin is the spark that starts the book. Josh has a very clear sense of right and wrong and once he uncovers the misdeeds at the heart of the story, he’s has a steely determination to put things right. Blond, good-looking, caring and clever – Josh might just be the perfect guy.




The other main character is Ed Brolin. Dedicated and smart, Ed’s a journalist whose work has taken him all over the world, always moving and following the action. Ed’s investigation into the owners of Winterstone Grange brings him in contact with Josh, who happens to be looking for his missing cousin at the same time. The attraction on both sides is instant, but Ed doesn’t let romance get in the way of his quest for the truth. Like Josh, I fell completely in love with Ed while writing Silent Voices. His rugged, dark good-looks and green eyes get me excited even now. I loved writing about him, especially the love scenes with Josh, which are very hot.


It’s always fun to imagine who would play your characters in a movie version of the story. I’m hard pushed to think of someone for Josh but Ed is easy. James Wolk is an American actor from the TV series Zoo and the later series of Mad Men, and he would be perfect. He’s got the dark good looks and killer smile that would make him a perfect choice for Ed. He’s also off-the-scale sexy. I can’t think of anyone better.






Silent Voices in a sexy, sometimes dark, contemporary thriller, but it was almost a lot darker. I learned something crucial while writing this book. It’s the first story I’ve written without planning it in detail before I started. I knew roughly what I wanted to do but not how I was going to achieve it. As the book moved towards the climax I found it taking me to places I wasn’t comfortable with, forcing me to stop and pull back. I like an edge to my romance but there have to be limits. As a result I ended up changing the last two chapters to something far more satisfying. It was hard work but worth it. I love the way the books ends now. And it taught me a lesson – never start without a detailed plan. Some writers love to make things up as they go along, to see where the characters take them, but that method doesn’t work for me. I prefer to tackle the big problems upfront, at the planning stage, and make the writing process a more enjoyable task.


Check out the book and see what you think.



Pride Publishing: https://www.pride-publishing.com/book/silent-voices

Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B06XXH9T1N/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1491562233&sr=8-3&keywords=thom+collins

Amazon USA: https://www.amazon.com/Silent-Voices-Thom-Collins-ebook/dp/B06XXH9T1N/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1491562407&sr=8-3&keywords=thom+collins

KOBO: https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/silent-voices-15


Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/silent-voices-thom-collins/1126168330;jsessionid=5F7489723C6FD83BD2A1910F02E6693C.prodny_store02-atgap09?ean=9781786515605

PRE ORDER ANTHEM OF THE SEA

You can pre-order Anthem of the Sea from today.



An ocean of possibility. For love, revenge and murder.

Daniel Blake, a handsome young singer, boards the Atlantic Anthem in Portugal for the final voyage of her maiden season. The state-of-the-art ship is the jewel in the Royal Atlantic cruise fleet. For Daniel, a one-time boy band member and TV talent show winner, it’s an honor to perform aboard such a vessel. Daniel loves the freedom and adventure of the sea. He began his solo career as a cruise ship entertainer and returning to the ocean as a headline act brings him full circle. He isn’t looking for love.

Neither is comedian Elijah Mann. Working at sea has given Elijah’s career the boost it desperately needed. Often considered too good-looking and sexy to be funny, work has been hard to come by since his TV show was canceled. With a potential new career opening up, he must remain focused. But when Elijah meets Daniel the attraction is mutual and instant. As the ship sets sail for England they have three days to get to know each other. Elijah can’t let that opportunity pass.

The voyage home is far from smooth. Also on board is a figure from Daniel’s past. A man who’s been holding a grudge for years, waiting for his moment. As a storm builds in the North Atlantic, Daniel and Elijah discover that the trip of a lifetime could be their last.

Pre-Order: 9th MayEarly Download: 23rd May
General Release: 20th June

 PRE ORDER IT HERE:  Pride Publishing

RELEASE DAY: SILENT VOICES

My erotic thriller Silent Voices is on general release from today.



A desire for justice as strong as their passion for each other.

Concerned about the welfare of his young cousin, Josh Jackson, a restaurant owner, traces the boy to Winterstone Grange, a gated manor deep in the country. Miles from anywhere, the protected walls of this stately house conceal dark secrets. Josh’s search brings him into contact with Ed Brolin, a handsome journalist who has spent weeks investigating the secrets of the Grange and its owner. Ray Armstrong is a wealthy business man with influential connections in Parliament and the police. Ed knows exactly what goes on at the Grange but without evidence, he hasn’t got a story.

Drawn together by instant attraction and a powerful hunger for justice, Josh and Ed are determined to expose the sordid secrets of the grange despite the risks it poses. Josh has never met a man like Ed before—so strong, determined and masculine. Falling in love is easy. But they’ll have to put their emotions aside if they’re going to give a voice to all the silent victims of Winterstone Grange.


EXTRACT:

Josh Jackson didn’t worry when his cousin failed to come home. It was Saturday night and Kevin was eighteen. Josh wasn’t about to impose a curfew on the kid. Neither was he going to babysit. Kevin was old enough to take care of himself.

Josh checked Kevin’s room when he came home from work at one o’clock. The spare bed hadn’t been made since Kevin had gotten out of it that morning and yesterday’s clothes were all over the floor—discarded jeans with his boxers still inside them, a scruffy T-shirt and a pair of dirty socks. The smell of the socks hit him from the doorway. Despite the reek of cheap deodorant and aftershave filling the room, the socks were pungent. Teenagers. Josh wasn’t about to tidy up after him so he left things as they were, including the damp towel draped over the foot of the bed. The kid was only staying a few nights. If he wanted to live in a mess like that, so be it, so long as he left the place as he’d found it when he moved on.

Josh shut the door and went to bed. He wished his cousin luck. If the boy wanted to get laid, he’d rather he did it somewhere else. It was bad enough that Josh’s lodger, Bobby, regarded the place as a Grindr pit stop, without his cousin treating it like a knocking shop, too.

Josh read for a while and half-listened for the sound of Kevin coming home, but eventually fell asleep.

He wasn’t overly concerned in the morning to find Kevin’s room just as he’d left it, though by now it smelled considerably worse. The fancy fragrances had worn off and all that remained was the fetid odor of teenage sweat and damp towel. So, he stayed out all night.Good on him. Josh had been a teenager once, a horny one at that, so he could totally relate. Kevin wouldn’t get the chance to fuck around much when he was at home. His mother had very rigid views on that. It wouldn’t have mattered whether Kevin had turned out straight or gay. His mother had raised a good boy and intended to keep him that way.

Kevin will be going back to her in a couple of days. He might as well have fun while the leash is off.

He was a good-looking lad. Josh knew he’d be popular in town. A little baby-faced for his age, but with the family features of blue eyes and blond hair, his fresh twinkie image would attract plenty of attention. He looked a lot like Josh had at that age. Josh had been a slim-looking twink until well into his twenties. It was only in the last few years he’d filled out with muscle and looked more like a man. The beard helped. How grateful he’d been when the ability to grow more than a few wisps of pale chin-fluff finally occurred. He kept it neat with a regular trim, but now that he had grown a beard, he couldn’t ever see himself being without one.

Josh called Kevin’s mobile while waiting for his morning coffee to brew. It rang a few times before going to voicemail. “Hi, it’s me,” he said. “Not checking up on you, I just want to know you’re okay. Give me a ring back, or a text when you get this message. Just to say you’re alive… Otherwise I’ll have to call your mother,” he added jokingly and hung up.

He had bigger concerns than a randy teenager. His restaurant, The Cellar Steps, was short on staff today and fully booked for both lunch and dinner. He’d asked all his remaining staff to come in early to help with the prep and service, which meant getting in even earlier himself. As the owner, it wasn’t necessary, since he employed a manager for the day-to-day running, but Josh believed in setting an example from the top down. That meant rolling up his sleeves when things got tight. He thought about putting a little cash Kevin’s way to help out, if he arrived home in decent time and wasn’t too hung over.

He heard the heavy thud of the newspapers landing in the hall. Perfect timing. A little news and some freshly brewed coffee. A relaxing start to an otherwise hectic day.

Josh sat at the kitchen table with multiple Sunday supplements spread all around him when Bobby stumbled out of his bedroom in just his boxers and a T-shirt, yawning and scratching his belly and balls at the same time. His semi-hard dick waggled in the front of his shorts. Bobby lurched into the bathroom and returned a few minutes later, looking fractionally more awake, minus morning wood.

“Coffee?” Bobby asked. “Okay if I help myself?”

“You know where it is,” Josh said, drawing back from the stench of alcohol that came off him in stale waves. “Jesus, your blood must be one hundred proof.”

“I think I’m still drunk,” Bobby observed. “The hangover hasn’t kicked in yet.”

“I don’t envy you when it does.”

“One cup of this and I’m crawling back beneath the duvet.”

Josh looked at him uncertainly. An idea had just occurred to him. He hoped he was wrong. “I don’t suppose my cousin is under that duvet with you?”

Bobby chuckled, his dark eyes crinkling. “Wouldn’t that be something? He is kinda hot. But little blond cupcakes are not my thing. In Kevin’s case, I could make an exception. Maybe.”

“But did you?”

“Too close to home, bro. The kid’s a cutie but he ain’t worth the earache. I’d never hear the last of it.”

It was some relief. Josh didn’t have a problem with his young cousin fucking around—but with Bobby, no way. His lodger was a good friend but a total slut. Kevin would need a lot more experience under his belt before he was ready for that old hound. “I don’t suppose you do know where he is? He hasn’t been home.”

“He’s between somebody’s sheets, all right. I walked into town with him last night, had a drink and showed him where to go.”

“You left him on his own?”

“No, he left me. I guess I cramped his style. He headed off toward Gala Square with a group of studenty types. He didn’t know how fast to ditch me once he got to talking to people his own age.”

Josh loosened up again. He’d been right about Kevin. He knew what he was doing. A young man in a new city making friends fast. There was nothing to worry about.


BUY LINKS:

Pride Publishing

Amazon UK 

Amazon USA

KOBO 

Barnes and Noble

GETTING AHEAD

Good afternoon everyone. It's been another busy week and I'm looking forward to a laid-back weekend. Kicking off with margaritas and beef tachos with my husband tonight.
I've been working on the fine line edits for Anthem of the Sea, which is due out in June from Pride Publishing. Even better, you’ll be able to pre-order the book from next week. I'll post the link once it goes live. I'm so excited about this one. A lot of work has gone into the book - the first in my Anthem Trilogy. As I've mentioned before the second book is already finished and I’ve just started writing book three. Today in fact. It's important to get this right. I don't want to leave anything to chance so the outline had to be right before I began. It's really exciting. The outline alone got my pulse racing. I’ll be a nervous wreck when I get round to writing the actual scenes.

I'm current writing a number of blog posts to promote Anthem of the Sea in June. Links etc will come once it’s all finalised.

In the mean-time Silent Voices goes on general release next Tuesday. Another exciting day. I've written a blog post for the site Because Two Men Are Better than One. The post should go live on Tuesday HERE

So, as mentioned above, I started the first draft of Anthem 3 this morning. I like to write my first drafts without too much distraction, so have been working ahead to get everything in place for Anthem of the Sea and Silent Voicesbefore I start. Multitasking is not one of my strong points so it takes a lot of advance planning. I’m not one of those writers who can have several projects on the go at one time. I like to focus on one story at a time. And now it’s all about Anthem 3. I can't wait. I’ve loved writing the first two books and want to give the trilogy a very fitting conclusion.

April Update

This is another overdue update, for which I apologise. I don’t have any excuse, other than I’ve been working, but hey, who isn’t busy with work? So what’s going on? The Anthem Trilogy is what. I’m deep into work on this series. Book one is due for release on 20th June and I’m currently doing a final polish on book two. That should be going off to the publisher next week. Then it’s full steam ahead on book three. I’ve already got the characters in place and two thirds of the outline prepared for the final novel in the series. I don’t want to rush it. It’s so important to get this right. If a reader stick with me for three books I want to reward with them with a major climax. I aim to do that with all my stories but the pressure is so much bigger when tying up a trilogy.
I’m currently planning the promotional schedule for Anthem of the Sea and will update you with details of a blog tour in the next couple of weeks.
In the meantime, my novella Silent Voices is currently available for early download from Pride Publishing, ahead of the general release date on May 9th. Silent Voices is a pacy erotic thriller. 20,000 words, so a perfect length to devour in one or two sessions. Anyone who enjoyed Gods of Vengeance is going to love this.

EARLY DOWNLOAD HERE
Blurb:A desire for justice as strong as their passion for each other.
Concerned about the welfare of his young cousin, Josh Jackson, a restaurant owner, traces the boy to Winterstone Grange, a gated manor deep in the country. Miles from anywhere, the protected walls of this stately house conceal dark secrets. Josh’s search brings him into contact with Ed Brolin, a handsome journalist who has spent weeks investigating the secrets of the Grange and its owner. Ray Armstrong is a wealthy businessman with influential connections in parliament and the police. Ed knows exactly what goes on at the Grange but, without evidence, he hasn’t got a story.
Drawn together by instant attraction and a powerful hunger for justice, Josh and Ed are determined to expose the sordid secrets of the Grange despite the risks. Josh has never met a man like Ed before—so strong, determined and masculine. Falling in love is easy. But they’ll have to put their emotions aside if they’re going to give a voice to all the silent victims of Winterstone Grange.

Extract:

Josh Jackson didn’t worry when his cousin failed to come home. It was Saturday night and Kevin was eighteen. Josh wasn’t about to impose a curfew on the kid. Neither was he going to babysit. Kevin was old enough to take care of himself.
Josh checked Kevin’s room when he came home from work at one o’clock. The spare bed hadn’t been made since Kevin had gotten out of it that morning and yesterday’s clothes were all over the floor—discarded jeans with his boxers still inside them, a scruffy T-shirt and a pair of dirty socks. The smell of the socks hit him from the doorway. Despite the reek of cheap deodorant and aftershave filling the room, the socks were pungent. Teenagers. Josh wasn’t about to tidy up after him so he left things as they were, including the damp towel draped over the foot of the bed. The kid was only staying a few nights. If he wanted to live in a mess like that, so be it, so long as he left the place as he’d found it when he moved on.
Josh shut the door and went to bed. He wished his cousin luck. If the boy wanted to get laid, he’d rather he did it somewhere else. It was bad enough that Josh’s lodger, Bobby, regarded the place as a Grindr pit stop, without his cousin treating it like a knocking shop, too.
Josh read for a while and half-listened for the sound of Kevin coming home, but eventually fell asleep.
He wasn’t overly concerned in the morning to find Kevin’s room just as he’d left it, though by now it smelled considerably worse. The fancy fragrances had worn off and all that remained was the fetid odor of teenage sweat and damp towel. So, he stayed out all night. Good on him. Josh had been a teenager once, a horny one at that, so he could totally relate. Kevin wouldn’t get the chance to fuck around much when he was at home. His mother had very rigid views on that. It wouldn’t have mattered whether Kevin had turned out straight or gay. His mother had raised a good boy and intended to keep him that way.
Kevin will be going back to her in a couple of days. He might as well have fun while the leash is off.
He was a good-looking lad. Josh knew he’d be popular in town. A little baby-faced for his age, but with the family features of blue eyes and blond hair, his fresh twinkie image would attract plenty of attention. He looked a lot like Josh had at that age. Josh had been a slim-looking twink until well into his twenties. It was only in the last few years he’d filled out with muscle and looked more like a man. The beard helped. How grateful he’d been when the ability to grow more than a few wisps of pale chin-fluff finally occurred. He kept it neat with a regular trim, but now that he had grown a beard, he couldn’t ever see himself being without one.
Josh called Kevin’s mobile while waiting for his morning coffee to brew. It rang a few times before going to voicemail. “Hi, it’s me,” he said. “Not checking up on you, I just want to know you’re okay. Give me a ring back, or a text when you get this message. Just to say you’re alive… Otherwise I’ll have to call your mother,” he added jokingly and hung up.
He had bigger concerns than a randy teenager. His restaurant, The Cellar Steps, was short on staff today and fully booked for both lunch and dinner. He’d asked all his remaining staff to come in early to help with the prep and service, which meant getting in even earlier himself. As the owner, it wasn’t necessary, since he employed a manager for the day-to-day running, but Josh believed in setting an example from the top down. That meant rolling up his sleeves when things got tight. He thought about putting a little cash Kevin’s way to help out, if he arrived home in decent time and wasn’t too hung over.
He heard the heavy thud of the newspapers landing in the hall. Perfect timing. A little news and some freshly brewed coffee. A relaxing start to an otherwise hectic day.
Josh sat at the kitchen table with multiple Sunday supplements spread all around him when Bobby stumbled out of his bedroom in just his boxers and a T-shirt, yawning and scratching his belly and balls at the same time. His semi-hard dick waggled in the front of his shorts. Bobby lurched into the bathroom and returned a few minutes later, looking fractionally more awake, minus morning wood.
“Coffee?” Bobby asked. “Okay if I help myself?”
“You know where it is,” Josh said, drawing back from the stench of alcohol that came off him in stale waves. “Jesus, your blood must be one hundred proof.”
“I think I’m still drunk,” Bobby observed. “The hangover hasn’t kicked in yet.”
“I don’t envy you when it does.”
“One cup of this and I’m crawling back beneath the duvet.”
Josh looked at him uncertainly. An idea had just occurred to him. He hoped he was wrong. “I don’t suppose my cousin is under that duvet with you?”
Bobby chuckled, his dark eyes crinkling. “Wouldn’t that be something? He is kinda hot. But little blond cupcakes are not my thing. In Kevin’s case, I could make an exception. Maybe.”
“But did you?”
“Too close to home, bro. The kid’s a cutie but he ain’t worth the earache. I’d never hear the last of it.”
It was some relief. Josh didn’t have a problem with his young cousin fucking around—but with Bobby, no way. His lodger was a good friend but a total slut. Kevin would need a lot more experience under his belt before he was ready for that old hound. “I don’t suppose you do know where he is? He hasn’t been home.”
“He’s between somebody’s sheets, all right. I walked into town with him last night, had a drink and showed him where to go.”
“You left him on his own?”
“No, he left me. I guess I cramped his style. He headed off toward Gala Square with a group of studenty types. He didn’t know how fast to ditch me once he got to talking to people his own age.”
Josh loosened up again. He’d been right about Kevin. He knew what he was doing. A young man in a new city making friends fast. There was nothing to worry about.