Nell Iris's Blog, page 100

Short story recommendations

I’ve said it before and I’ll probably say it again: I absolutely love short stories. Many times I prefer to read a short story instead of a 400+ page novel. I’m not necessarily a big fan of all the side plots and the unnecessary drama you need to fill up all those pages. I want to read about the romantic couple, not about everything else happening in their lives.

And these last few weeks I’ve read three excellent collections of short stories, so I thought I’d share.

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Snapshots by Addison Albr...

#RainbowSnippets

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Weekends means Rainbow Snippets-time here on the blog, since I’ve joined the  Rainbow Snippets group on Facebook. According to their description, “it’s a group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week to share six sentences from a work of fiction—a WIP or a finished work of even 6-sentence book recommendation (no spoilers please!).”

I’m still snippeting (it’s a word!

Bonus scene: Unconditionally

One week ago today, Unconditionally was released. I wanted to do something to celebrate this fabulous event, so I wrote a bonus scene. If you’ve read my story, this little snippet from Luca and Gus’s life, takes place sometime between Chapter 9 and the epilogue. (And if you haven’t read it, what are you waiting for?

Two Natures by Jendi Reiter: blog tour and guest post

I’m honored and happy to welcome Jendi Reiter to my blog today. She’s here on tour for her novel Two Natures, and she will talk about fashion inspiration. (And I had no idea binge-watching Project Runway could be considered research, I think I’ve gone about my research the wrong way

Reviews: Unconditionally

I wrote that I’d signed up for a release blitz for Unconditionally which was a really great decision. I’ve enjoyed clicking around on the Internet, seeing my book pop up on blogs and review sites, knowing people will find out about it. It’s been awesome.

And as a result, some lovely people have taken the time to review it, too. I had to take a deep breath to stop my heart from beating out of my chest when I read the first one, and when it turned out to be a positive review, I was so happy.

I...

The annoying song

Unconditionally starts with Gus in a bar. He sips his beer complains about an annoying song.

“Oh, no, not again.”

Gus Hanson groaned when the first notes of last year’s most irritating song started playing. The Big Gay Handbook probably dictated every gay man should love Britney, but Gus just couldn’t. He cringed at her infantile moaning and wanted to forever scrub the image of her in the Lolita schoolgirl uniform from his retinas.

Are you curious about what song it is that he doesn’t like? I...

Monday writing update

Mondays mean I write about what I did the previous week:

The Locked Room
I rewrote and edited three chapters. It’s going really well, and I’m continuing this week. I like the new version better. It’s tighter and better when it’s not in present tense. Feels like a good decision.

WIP
I didn’t write anything on my current WIP last week. I came up with a title though: Never Before Him. I need to name MC2 before I can write more, and I thought I had a name. Then my husband threw a monkey-wrench in...

Inspirational pictures

I save a lot of inspirational pictures for my stories and I thought I’d share some with you for Unconditionally.

First my inspiration for Gus and Luca:

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GUS:

“You look exactly like the new Mr. Spock.” The guy smiled, and Gus almost swooned at the sight of the corners of his lush mouth curling up. “I think it’s the eyebrows,” the guy continued and traced his finger along Gus’s right eyebrow. “Or the nose.” The finger changed direction and continued down the bridge of his nose.

LUCA:

His dar...

#RainbowSnippets

[image error]

Weekends means Rainbow Snippets-time here on the blog, since I’ve joined the  Rainbow Snippets group on Facebook. According to their description, “it’s a group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week to share six sentences from a work of fiction—a WIP or a finished work of even 6-sentence book recommendation (no spoilers please!).”

Last week I posted a snippet from when Luca and Gus met, and some of you were curious about the Mr. Spock-reference. So I thought I’d give...

Release day!!

Today’s the day. The day my first book is released.

*dramatic pause*

And I’m so freaking happy, guys!!