A.T. Weaver's Blog, page 5
September 14, 2016
RANT
Why, why, why, do people think that just because a book is about a gay couple there HAS to be sex in it. A lot of authors of GLBT are getting tired of writing nothing but sex.
“This is well-written, book 4 about a couple who’ve just gotten married, but really, you wouldn’t have said they were newlyweds. There weren’t any sex scenes in this, and only a kiss or two. The entire tale seemed to focus on wildlife and on people who were killing/trapping/maiming animals and raising them so that people could come and track and shoot them.
Not a nice tale, but like I said, it’s well-written. Not a romance – not sure how to classify this.”
This is a mystery book. I know of at least three authors who have written mystery series involving straight couples that have NO sex whatsoever in them. One series is up to twenty books now. The couple met in the first book, dated, lived together, got married, and now have kids – BUT THERE IS NO SEX – and no one thinks anything is wrong. Why should GLBT mysteries be any different?
It’s kind of like when I was advocating for same-sex marriage. People would say, “I don’t care what they do in the bedroom.” I know a lot of gay and lesbian couples and I have no idea what they do in the bedroom. What I care about is how they behave in public (and I don’t mind if they hold hands or kiss). Life is more than sex.
September 9, 2016
Running With the Pack
Running With the Pack
A.M. Burns/Caitlin Ricci
When Finn Ryan’s family moves from Austin, Texas, to quiet Woodland Park, Colorado, the summer before his senior year, Finn struggles to adjust. Even the altitude is hard to get used to. But when he meets Ivan Dubovasky at a farmers’ market, all that changes. Finn begins volunteering at Ivan’s family business, High Mountain Wolf and Wild Dog Center, where he forms a bond with both Ivan and the wolves they protect.
Soon Ivan’s best friend, Adrian, who’s asexual, joins their small pack, and the three of them become inseparable, even after Ivan and Finn begin dating—until a bully’s torment of Adrian goes too far. When Adrian disappears, Ivan and Finn will do anything they can to rescue their boyfriend, including relying on a special wolf to bring Adrian home.
Reviewed by A. T. Weaver
I read an article online after finishing this book about how you sometimes don’t finish a novel for various reasons. Had I not been reviewing this book, it would have been one that I put aside after a chapter or two. However, I’m glad I didn’t give up on it.
It starts rather slowly, but then gets better. Drama builds when Adrian disappears and the families of the three boys learn of the bond they have with each other. The families’ acceptance of the bond is to be commended.
Two things bother me about the plot. The rapid turnaround of Channing, and the fact we are to accept that three seventeen-year-olds will spend the rest of their lives together. Of course that may be cynicism on my part as a senior citizen who has seen too many such dreams be dispelled.
My rating — 4 stars
August 22, 2016
To Move Forward by Geoffrey Bauernfeind
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
“Patrick and Ben were more than friends before they went their separate ways. In the years that followed, Patrick stayed true to himself and Ben married. Patrick searched for happiness. Ben seemingly had it all. Now Patrick and Ben, currently divorced, meet at a fair, and suddenly Patrick is thrust into Ben’s life once again. He has no idea what he is getting himself into because, as much as Patrick desires Ben and vice versa, there are skeletons in both cupboards and both must make sacrifices in order to be together.”
* * *
I really enjoyed this book. Too many times, you know how a book is going to end as soon as you start reading. This one took an unexpected turn about the middle, and I thought the ending was going to be different.
Don’t want to post any spoilers. No matter how much things change in twenty years, some things remain the same.
I would recommend this book for anyone wanting a sweet romantic read with no erotica.
5 Stars
August 5, 2016
A Second Look (Pacific Palms Resort Story Book 2)
“Matt has loved his handsome best friend Zack since they were kids, but, after many years of watching him chase and bed anybody but Matt, he has locked that love away into a small corner of his heart. When Zack invites Matt to go on a trip to Pacific Palms, a luxurious all-gay resort, Matt is constantly reminded that Zack is his friend. Zack is just not into him that way, but it doesn’t matter. Lots of other men are into Matt and his hairy muscular chest.
When Zack realizes how many men are into his old friend, he starts to see him in a new light. Matt is no longer the dorky kid who ate dirt. He’s the man Zack was always meant to be with. Zack tries to make a move. Matt rebuffs him. He doesn’t want to be another one of Zack’s conquests. He wants more.
Zack has to decide if he is ready for more with the man who he never thought of as a lover. Matt needs to trust that Zack’s feelings for him are real.”
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
From the blurb, you can almost guess the ending.
Having never read anything by this author, I didn’t know what to expect. It is mildly erotic – probably a 2.5 on a scale of 1 to 5. Some might not find it erotic enough, I did. It is well written and edited. If you want to while away a couple of hours away from the cares of the daily news, I recommend it. I enjoyed the story, although I would have liked a little more of the back story of the two men.
About the author:
“I started writing gay male erotic romance stories in the early ’90s, but only gay male porn magazines would publish them. I’m so glad things have gotten more respectable and the readership more broad. I am a lesbian in an interracial same-sex marriage, and I love writing interracial romance stories. I love flipping stereotypes and challenging myself to write characters that are ever further from who I am. I hope you enjoy my stories. I certainly love writing them. “
July 23, 2016
Native Wind – A. M. Burns
“After his family is killed by thieves, sole survivor Trey McAlister is taken in by a nearby Comanche clan. Trey has a gift for magic and the clan’s shaman, Singing Crow, makes him an apprentice. While learning to control his powers, Trey bonds with a young warrior and shape shifter, Gray Talon. When they are sent out on a quest to find the missing daughter of a dragon, they encounter the same bandits who murdered Trey’s family, as well as a man made of copper who drives Trey to dig deeper into the magics that created him.
It doesn’t take them long to discover a rancher near Cheyenne, Wyoming is plotting to build a workforce of copper men—and has captured the dragon’s daughter they’ve been searching for. Trey and Gray Talon must draw on all their knowledge and skills to complete their quest—one that grows more complicated, and more dangerous, with each passing day.”
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This is a fast-paced, intriguing story from the beginning which takes place during a buffalo hunt to the final conflict with the man building the copper army.
It’s hard to categorize this book. It’s fantasy; it’s paranormal; it’s M/M romance (not erotica); it’s steampunk; it’s nineteenth century; it’s western. (And I may have missed one or two categories.)
I know a lot of M/M readers will be disappointed because there isn’t any sex and very little romance. But life isn’t all about sex, even though a lot of readers and authors try to make it that way.
All in all, this is a book that you’ll find hard to put down.
July 19, 2016
Weatherboy – Theo Fenraven
After fifteen-year-old Tuck finds a Maya artifact while on vacation in Guatemala, his whole life changes. To his surprise, he discovers he can make it rain and snow. A local weatherman happens to be around when Tuck creates a waterspout near his home in Tarpon Springs, Florida, and the next thing he knows, someone from the Department of Homeland Security is picking him up at school and taking him to their offices in Orlando. From there, things only get weirder and more dangerous when he’s escorted to Washington, D.C.
With help from friends and family, Tuck tries to outwit government agents while staying one step ahead of the mysterious Rafe Castillo, the man assigned to ride herd on him. Tuck has an amazing opportunity to reverse the effects of climate change… but only if he stays alive long enough to do it.
I don’t want to add much to the blurb, because I don’t like to add spoilers. I really enjoyed this book. I would recommend it for any teenager who likes excitement and intrigue.
As usual, Fenraven gives us an interesting story with well-developed characters.
Theo Fenraven happily lives in south Florida, where it is hot and sunny much of the year.
Theo’s blog: http://theofenraven.wordpress.com.
Theo’s author page on Amazon: amazon.com/author/theofenraven.
June 27, 2016
The Sweetest Nectar by A. J. Marcus
The second of the Hardwood Shifter series continues the excitement of the first with the exploits of Parker, the hummingbird shifter.
Parker’s best friend, Van the bear shifter, has found his mate in Tanner the werewolf, and he’s lonely.
Tanner and Van leave the valley to search out other shifters and warn them about the hunters who are out to kill every shifter they find. While they’re gone, a call comes in about an unknown shifter who thinks he’s being stalked. Even though everyone thinks Parker is too small and fragile to help, he takes on the task of finding and identifying the shifter. What he finds is a candy maker who happens to be a sugar-glider shifter who’s nearly as small as he is.
These two tiny creatures take on the bad guys and prove that size can’t beat brains and cunning.
With Parker’s need for sugar, and Roger’s candy-making skills, it’s a perfect match.
June 22, 2016
No Man’s Land – Theo Fenraven
“Amateur ghost hunters Cy and Zelda are invited to the BWCA in Northern Minnesota to investigate an alleged haunting at Brighton Lake Lodge. Mac, the owner, has returned home from London with plans to restart the family business, but the ghosts have to be dealt with first.
Interesting things happen the moment they arrive; it seems there isn’t one ghost, but many. One of them uses Zelda’s robot, Orwell, to communicate with them, and they find out the ghosts aren’t ghosts at all.
Set in a time in the not-so-distant future, the story destroys ideas of what is real, what isn’t, and reveals the lengths people will go to in order to survive.”
I ‘met’ Fen’s work several years ago when a friend lent me the first of the Precog in Peril books and immediately fell in love with it.
What do I expect when I pick up a new Fenraven book?
Well-defined characters that I would recognize if I saw them on the street? – check
Description of scene that not only makes me see it, but makes me feel like I’m there? – check
Excitement? – check
GLBT characters? – check
Hot and erotic M/M sex? – Oops – not this time. In fact, there is very little sex at all.
So what do we have? A fast-paced, science fiction story set in the near future that will draw you in from the beginning.
When Cy and Zelda meet Mac, they hope they are going to find ghosts. What they find is much more, an alien species that warns of impending danger to Earth due to the climate change no one believes in.
With the help of Zelda’s brother and two robots, they discover a secret the government doesn’t want known.
I cannot recommend this book enough to science fiction fans. Forget it’s GLBT – it’s science fiction.
PS – I want an Orwell.
Theo Fenraven happily lives in south Florida, where it is hot and sunny much of the year.
Theo’s blog: http://theofenraven.wordpress.com.
Theo’s author page on Amazon: amazon.com/author/theofenraven.
Say hello to him on twitter: @fenraven.
June 21, 2016
My Two Cents Worth
There’s been a lot of discussion lately about differences of opinions between authors and the people who read our books.
Those of us who write LGBT books are being criticized for a couple of things.
First off, we are told our e-books should be free. I’ll admit there are some out there that even at free are not worth the price. But there are also a lot of good books that are not selling.
So we come to the second point. The readers want to tell us what to write. If there isn’t explicit, erotic sex, they don’t want to read it. And most of them don’t even know what constitutes gay sex.
It has reached the point where I expect the dictionary to list ‘erotica’ as a synonym for ‘romance’ any day now.
I had one reader complain because one of my early books didn’t have any anal sex in it. I’m sorry. I think that is because a large portion of readers of M/M books are straight women who have the mistaken idea that anal sex is all gay men do. The fact is over 1/3 of gay men don’t engage in anal sex at all. I even had one author tell me that any gay man who says he doesn’t, is lying.
The books where two men engage in anal sex on every other page are just not believable, and a lot of M/M writers are trying to get away from this type of writing.
I try to follow two quotes in my writing:
“This above all to thine own self be true.” – Wm Shakespeare
“Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self.” Cyril Connolly (1903-1974)
No, I’ll never be rich from writing. I don’t even make enough to have to file Income Taxes since I don’t sell enough to have taxable income. But, I write what I believe in. If readers don’t like it, I’m sorry. But I want my books (even paranormal and fantasy) to be believable.
June 18, 2016
A New Alpha in Town
Another action-packed shifter from A.J. Marcus
“The past year has been hard for werewolf Tanner Groff. After his pack was killed by shifter hunters, he’s staying on the move, looking to warn other shifters there’s a band of militaristic hunters looking to kill every shifter they can find. When he catches the scent of a bear shifter named Van, Tanner changes his course and follows in hopes of having a quiet discussion with Van. But before that can happen, the hunters strike sending them on a desperate rescue mission they aren’t sure will succeed. Being in close quarters with passions running high, Tanner and Van find a mutual attraction and hope they can survive long enough to explore it and the new path their lives are takin.”
If you’re looking for erotica with steamy M/M sex on every other page, this book is not for you. If you’re looking for ‘edge of your seat’ action with a little sex thrown in, I urge you to read it.
Werewolf Tanner Groff is headed for Las Vegas when he meets up with bear shifter Van and hummingbird shifter Parker. When the hunters who are out to kill all shifters attack, they make off with Parker and Tanner and Van follow in the middle of an early Colorado snowstorm.
Tanner is injured and Van hurries to get him to Hardwood Valley in time.
Tanner finds, not only a new home, but the man who he’s fated to be with.
A.J. Marcus
A.J. has been writing to pass the time since high school. The stories he wrote helped him deal with life. A few years ago, he started sharing those stories with friends who enjoyed them and he has started sending his works out into the world to share with other people. He lives in the mountains with his extremely supportive husband. They have a lot of critters, including dogs, cats, birds, horses, and rabbits. When not writing, A.J. spends a lot of time hiking, trail riding, or just driving in the mountains. Nature provides a lot of inspiration for his work and keeps him writing. He is also an avid photographer and falconer. Don’t get him started talking about his birds, because he won’t stop for a while.
Web Contact Info:
Website: www.ajmarcus.com
Email: andy@ajmarcus.com
