Andrew Grey's Blog, page 30
September 3, 2012
The Good Fight - Available Everywhere
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The Good Fight has now been uploaded everywhere including Amazon. here are links if you need them.
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/The-Good-Fight-ebook/dp/B0095HIWNQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1346718537&sr=1-1&keywords=the+good+fight+grey
Dreamspinner Press: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=3188&osCsid=be72cmlkcktfjnj5omh74e8ge5
All Romance eBooks: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-thegoodfight-930341-145.html
Rainbow eBooks: http://www.rainbowebooks.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=8674
5 Star Review for The Good Fight
Mistress Anya at House Millar reviewed The Good Fight and awarded it 5 Stars and an Award of Excellence. I've probably posted more today that I ever have in a single day, but there has been so much happening and I wanted to share.
Mistress Anya said in her review: Make me cry, make me pant, and make me think, all in one story! I cannot say enough about The Good Fight – a simply wonderful read. The characters are so real you feel you know them, the writing is superb, and the story itself . . . heartrending yet inspiring.
Read the entire review: http://apmassie.com/%E2%9C%AF-release-day-%E2%9C%AF-5-drops-review-excerpt-the-good-fight-by-andrew-grey/
Release Day for The Good Fight
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Today is also the release day for The Good Fight and some amazing things are happening. I'm featured at a few blogs today and there are some chances for you to win a copy of The Good Fight.
Visit Simply Ali to read an interview and an excerpt and if you comment, you can win an electronic copy of The Good Fight: http://www.simplyali.com/2012/09/the-good-fight-by-andew-grey-interview.html
You can also stop by Alex Bowman's M/M Romance blog and leave a comment to win a copy of TheGood Fight. I know, you can see a pattern here. http://authoralexbowman.blogspot.com/2012/09/guest-author-andrew-grey.html?showComment=1346682204288#c2513094869186750229
You can also purchase a copy at Dreamspinner Press: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=3188
Good Luck to all of you
Andrew
Guest at Siobhan Muir's Blog
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Today I'm a guest at Siobhan Muir's blog The Weird, The Wild, and The Wicked. Stop by to read my brief interview and enter to win a copy of The Good Fight, that released tody, by leaving a comment.
http://siobhanmuir.blogspot.com/2012/09/5-questions-of-malemale-romance-author.html
September 2, 2012
The Good Fight - Releasing at Midnight
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Blurb:
Jerry Lincoln has a problem: his Sioux Falls IT consulting business has more work than one man can handle. Luckily, that means he can hire some help. Jerry just hopes his new employee, John Black Raven, ends up being more helpful than distracting—but John’s deep eyes and long hair are very distracting.
John came to town for an education and a chance at a life he couldn’t have on the reservation, but what’s important to him now is getting a job and keeping it. Six months ago, his sister died, and now her children are in foster care. Despite having the law on his side, John can’t get custody—can’t even see his niece and nephew.
As Jerry and John grow closer, John discovers he doesn’t have to struggle alone. Jerry helps him win visitation rights and provides much-needed support. Yet their victories aren’t without setbacks. Child Services is tangled up with money, politics, and red tape, and Native American children are their bread and butter. But John and Jerry are determined to fight the good fight and to win—in more ways than one.
Add to your DSP Wish List: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=3188
You can also preorder a print copy from TLA where it is on special: http://www.tlavideo.com/gay-the-good-fight/p-343232-2
Excerpt:
The doorbell rang with my next appointment, and I answered it. Another young man stood on the stoop, and I took him, and later the next young man, through the same interview process. I didn’t get the same encouraging signals from them, but I gave them the problems. One of them gave up after fifteen minutes, and I thanked him for coming. He looked disappointed, but I thanked him anyway. The other interviewee admitted defeat just before the last interviewee arrived. I noticed that Bryce seemed lost in his computer, typing away as I escorted the third applicant outside. After shaking hands, I said good-bye and was about to close the front door when I saw a man striding up my walk toward the door. As he got closer, I felt my throat go dry, and I had to remind myself that this was a job interview and not a pickup at a Castro gay bar.
“I’m John Black Raven,” he said with a smile, and we shook hands.
“Jerry Lincoln. I’m pleased to meet you.” The heat from his hand was startling, and I had to tear my gaze away from John’s deep, dark, almost black eyes. “Come in and we’ll go into the dining room to talk.” I motioned him inside, and John peered into the living room as we passed. I saw Bryce look up from his work, and he smiled and nodded to John, who did the same back before continuing on. “I take it you and Bryce know each other.”“
Yes. We’ve had many classes together,” John answered before pulling out a chair. He passed me his résumé, and I scanned it.
“Your grades are good, and you’ve had plenty of experience.” It looked as though John had worked at least two jobs for years. Many of them appeared menial and looked like brutally hard, physical work. “None in software development,” I commented. He was also older than the others, nearly twenty-seven.
“No. I worked hard to pay for school, and this is the first interview I’ve had.” His eyes shone with intensity and determination, and I did my best not to look at John’s shining black hair that was pulled into a ponytail, or his sun-kissed skin and full lips. This man was here for a job, and I needed to keep myself under control. “But I always work hard, and computers seem to speak to me.”
I was intrigued. “How?”
“I seem to have a mind for them. My teachers often offered extra credit for solving tough problems, and I always saw the answers right away,” John answered in a measured, rather soft-spoken tone that sounded almost musical. “I don’t have much real-world experience because until I was able to come here to school, there were no opportunities.” John sat back in the chair, indecision in his eyes, and I thought he wasn’t going to elaborate. “I grew up on the reservation, and there are very few chances there.” I’d heard rumors and stories, but I’d largely thought those were tales born out of narrow-minded stereotypes. “I left to try to make a better life,” John added and then grew quiet. Of the four interviews, this one was definitely the hardest. Some things were apparent, though. John was a hard worker, and judging from his grades, that had transferred to his schoolwork.
“What sort of things would you like to know?” I asked him, and John asked the usual things about pay and benefits, which I answered the same as the others. I showed him my current workspace and explained about the work area that was being developed.
“Would the insurance also cover children?” John asked tentatively.
“You should be able to add them,” I answered, reminding myself that I had to see about changing my health insurance policy if I was going to hire people. “How many children do you have?”
John looked sad. “None.”
I thought his question combined with his answer odd, but it was really none of my business, so I let the subject drop. “I have something I’d like you to do for me so I can judge your skill level,” I told John when we returned to the dining room. I handed him the thumb drive, and I watched as he pulled out a very old laptop. Then, after transferring the files, I got him settled in the living room.
“I’m finished,” Bryce said with a grin once John was settled, and I had him come to the dining room to show me. Bryce had indeed found the error and fixed it. He’d also developed the application I’d requested. “I even got the exception handling to work with meaningful messages.” Bryce showed me, and I couldn’t help holding back a smile.
“It looks good,” I said, quite pleased, because I had at least one candidate with potential. I made sure I had his current contact information, and after I shook Bryce’s hand and said good-bye, he left with a grin on his face.
Once he was gone, I stopped in the living room again, and John looked up from his work. “Have you eaten?” I asked, and John nodded. “I’ll be working. Come get me when you’re done.” John nodded again, and I sat down at my console to work. I could see John if I turned my head, and I found I was having trouble looking anywhere else. He was stunning, in a quiet, understated sort of way. His eyes held an intensity and pain that intrigued me, but it was his hair that I couldn’t take my eyes off of, and I kept wondering what he’d look like with it loose around his expressive face. Forcing my attention to my work, I hid behind my monitors and got down to the task, but that failed as well. I kept wondering what I saw in John, and then I’d peer around the monitor again just to watch him for a few seconds.
I had lived in San Francisco and had seen smoking-hot men almost every day of my life—guys who walked down the street and made almost every head turn. Those men usually did nothing for me. Sure, they were pretty to look at and attractive as hell, but as soon as they opened their mouths, some form of incomprehensible gibberish came out with every other word punctuated by “like.” “We, like, went to the store and, like, he grabbed my butt and I said, like, dude, like, don’t do that.” I’d actually heard that in a conversation, and I had wanted to smack the man on the side of the head. Somehow I knew deep down that John was very different from those men. There was definitely intelligence at the bottom of those eyes, and his attractiveness smoldered just below the surface in the way he walked and carried himself—tall and proud. I forced my eyes away from John and got to work for a while.
“I think I’m finished,” John said as he got up from the sofa. Thankful for something to do besides stare at John, I got up and met him at the table. “I fixed the problem with the program; that was easy,” John said. “But I wasn’t sure quite what you wanted with your specifications. On the right, you said you wanted each of the graphics lined up with the appropriate links. I wasn’t sure if you wanted them static or not, so I made them scroll.” He brought up the page, and the graphics scrolled along the side of the screen from top to bottom. “If you click on the graphic, they can link to the other pages if you create them.”
I smiled and stole a glance at John. “I was expecting the easy method, and instead you gave me more. Very good.” I was more than a little impressed. He’d delivered something beyond what I had expected, and he’d done it in the same amount of time as Bryce. “I’ll be making my decision in the next week.”
“Thank you,” John said, and we shook hands. Then he gathered his things, and I watched him leave. As soon as the door closed, I released a long sigh before walking into the kitchen. I grabbed a diet soda and chugged most of it as I ran over both viable candidates in my mind. After throwing the can in the recycling, I was about to return to work when the phone rang.
I picked up the old house phone. “Hello,” I answered, sitting at my workstation.
“Jerry, how did it go?” Peter asked excitedly. “I told you I could find qualified applicants, and I steered people your way I knew you could work with.”
“How did you find these guys?” I asked, wondering how he’d been able to put together a group of reasonably qualified people so fast.
Peter sighned softly, and I heard him shifting as the phone crackled slightly. “Every summer there’s a new graduating class, and at some point most of them don’t get jobs and come here looking for anything so they can work. I simply pointed some of the more qualified people your way. I could have hired any of those men here at the store, but they’d either leave eventually or end up at a dead end. So what did you think?” Peter was not going to be put off.
“Two of them were fantastic, and I have to decide which of them I want to hire. They’re both qualified, and I think I could work with either of them.” I figured both Bryce and John would be a big help, and part of me had a particular preference, but I made it a point not to think with that head and make the right decisions for my business.
“Take some time and think about it. Your gut will tell you what you need to do,” Peter said optimistically, and I rolled my eyes to the empty room.
“I’ll do that,” I promised, and after talking briefly about nothing, we hung up and I went back to work. I’d lost the better part of a day, and deadlines were always looming, so I hunkered down and tried not to think about red-brown skin, long black hair, and deep eyes.
September 1, 2012
The Good Fight - Releasing Tomorrow Night at Midnight
There were times when I was editing this manuscript that I got completely immersed in the story and forgot what I was supposed to be doing. For the weeks I was writing it, I got carroed away into to a different place and a world and a way of living that's so foreign from my own. A world of richness, color, family, community, hope, hopelessness, and yes poverty that is America's Native American reservations,.
I have been asked if this is the start of a series and I can say that it is. I have already finished The Fight Within and there amy be a third book. We'll have to see what the muse (Oscar) has to say. Here's the blurb and an excerpt explaining how John and Jerry meet. Enjoy!
Blurb:
Jerry Lincoln has a problem: his Sioux Falls IT consulting business has more work than one man can handle. Luckily, that means he can hire some help. Jerry just hopes his new employee, John Black Raven, ends up being more helpful than distracting—but John’s deep eyes and long hair are very distracting.
John came to town for an education and a chance at a life he couldn’t have on the reservation, but what’s important to him now is getting a job and keeping it. Six months ago, his sister died, and now her children are in foster care. Despite having the law on his side, John can’t get custody—can’t even see his niece and nephew.
As Jerry and John grow closer, John discovers he doesn’t have to struggle alone. Jerry helps him win visitation rights and provides much-needed support. Yet their victories aren’t without setbacks. Child Services is tangled up with money, politics, and red tape, and Native American children are their bread and butter. But John and Jerry are determined to fight the good fight and to win—in more ways than one.
Add to your DSP Wish List: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=3188
You can also preorder a print copy from TLA where it is on special: http://www.tlavideo.com/gay-the-good-fight/p-343232-2
Excerpt:
The doorbell rang with my next appointment, and I answered it. Another young man stood on the stoop, and I took him, and later the next young man, through the same interview process. I didn’t get the same encouraging signals from them, but I gave them the problems. One of them gave up after fifteen minutes, and I thanked him for coming. He looked disappointed, but I thanked him anyway. The other interviewee admitted defeat just before the last interviewee arrived. I noticed that Bryce seemed lost in his computer, typing away as I escorted the third applicant outside. After shaking hands, I said good-bye and was about to close the front door when I saw a man striding up my walk toward the door. As he got closer, I felt my throat go dry, and I had to remind myself that this was a job interview and not a pickup at a Castro gay bar.
“I’m John Black Raven,” he said with a smile, and we shook hands.
“Jerry Lincoln. I’m pleased to meet you.” The heat from his hand was startling, and I had to tear my gaze away from John’s deep, dark, almost black eyes. “Come in and we’ll go into the dining room to talk.” I motioned him inside, and John peered into the living room as we passed. I saw Bryce look up from his work, and he smiled and nodded to John, who did the same back before continuing on. “I take it you and Bryce know each other.”“
Yes. We’ve had many classes together,” John answered before pulling out a chair. He passed me his résumé, and I scanned it.
“Your grades are good, and you’ve had plenty of experience.” It looked as though John had worked at least two jobs for years. Many of them appeared menial and looked like brutally hard, physical work. “None in software development,” I commented. He was also older than the others, nearly twenty-seven.
“No. I worked hard to pay for school, and this is the first interview I’ve had.” His eyes shone with intensity and determination, and I did my best not to look at John’s shining black hair that was pulled into a ponytail, or his sun-kissed skin and full lips. This man was here for a job, and I needed to keep myself under control. “But I always work hard, and computers seem to speak to me.”
I was intrigued. “How?”
“I seem to have a mind for them. My teachers often offered extra credit for solving tough problems, and I always saw the answers right away,” John answered in a measured, rather soft-spoken tone that sounded almost musical. “I don’t have much real-world experience because until I was able to come here to school, there were no opportunities.” John sat back in the chair, indecision in his eyes, and I thought he wasn’t going to elaborate. “I grew up on the reservation, and there are very few chances there.” I’d heard rumors and stories, but I’d largely thought those were tales born out of narrow-minded stereotypes. “I left to try to make a better life,” John added and then grew quiet. Of the four interviews, this one was definitely the hardest. Some things were apparent, though. John was a hard worker, and judging from his grades, that had transferred to his schoolwork.
“What sort of things would you like to know?” I asked him, and John asked the usual things about pay and benefits, which I answered the same as the others. I showed him my current workspace and explained about the work area that was being developed.
“Would the insurance also cover children?” John asked tentatively.
“You should be able to add them,” I answered, reminding myself that I had to see about changing my health insurance policy if I was going to hire people. “How many children do you have?”
John looked sad. “None.”
I thought his question combined with his answer odd, but it was really none of my business, so I let the subject drop. “I have something I’d like you to do for me so I can judge your skill level,” I told John when we returned to the dining room. I handed him the thumb drive, and I watched as he pulled out a very old laptop. Then, after transferring the files, I got him settled in the living room.
“I’m finished,” Bryce said with a grin once John was settled, and I had him come to the dining room to show me. Bryce had indeed found the error and fixed it. He’d also developed the application I’d requested. “I even got the exception handling to work with meaningful messages.” Bryce showed me, and I couldn’t help holding back a smile.
“It looks good,” I said, quite pleased, because I had at least one candidate with potential. I made sure I had his current contact information, and after I shook Bryce’s hand and said good-bye, he left with a grin on his face.
Once he was gone, I stopped in the living room again, and John looked up from his work. “Have you eaten?” I asked, and John nodded. “I’ll be working. Come get me when you’re done.” John nodded again, and I sat down at my console to work. I could see John if I turned my head, and I found I was having trouble looking anywhere else. He was stunning, in a quiet, understated sort of way. His eyes held an intensity and pain that intrigued me, but it was his hair that I couldn’t take my eyes off of, and I kept wondering what he’d look like with it loose around his expressive face. Forcing my attention to my work, I hid behind my monitors and got down to the task, but that failed as well. I kept wondering what I saw in John, and then I’d peer around the monitor again just to watch him for a few seconds.
I had lived in San Francisco and had seen smoking-hot men almost every day of my life—guys who walked down the street and made almost every head turn. Those men usually did nothing for me. Sure, they were pretty to look at and attractive as hell, but as soon as they opened their mouths, some form of incomprehensible gibberish came out with every other word punctuated by “like.” “We, like, went to the store and, like, he grabbed my butt and I said, like, dude, like, don’t do that.” I’d actually heard that in a conversation, and I had wanted to smack the man on the side of the head. Somehow I knew deep down that John was very different from those men. There was definitely intelligence at the bottom of those eyes, and his attractiveness smoldered just below the surface in the way he walked and carried himself—tall and proud. I forced my eyes away from John and got to work for a while.
“I think I’m finished,” John said as he got up from the sofa. Thankful for something to do besides stare at John, I got up and met him at the table. “I fixed the problem with the program; that was easy,” John said. “But I wasn’t sure quite what you wanted with your specifications. On the right, you said you wanted each of the graphics lined up with the appropriate links. I wasn’t sure if you wanted them static or not, so I made them scroll.” He brought up the page, and the graphics scrolled along the side of the screen from top to bottom. “If you click on the graphic, they can link to the other pages if you create them.”
I smiled and stole a glance at John. “I was expecting the easy method, and instead you gave me more. Very good.” I was more than a little impressed. He’d delivered something beyond what I had expected, and he’d done it in the same amount of time as Bryce. “I’ll be making my decision in the next week.”
“Thank you,” John said, and we shook hands. Then he gathered his things, and I watched him leave. As soon as the door closed, I released a long sigh before walking into the kitchen. I grabbed a diet soda and chugged most of it as I ran over both viable candidates in my mind. After throwing the can in the recycling, I was about to return to work when the phone rang.
I picked up the old house phone. “Hello,” I answered, sitting at my workstation.
“Jerry, how did it go?” Peter asked excitedly. “I told you I could find qualified applicants, and I steered people your way I knew you could work with.”
“How did you find these guys?” I asked, wondering how he’d been able to put together a group of reasonably qualified people so fast.
Peter sighned softly, and I heard him shifting as the phone crackled slightly. “Every summer there’s a new graduating class, and at some point most of them don’t get jobs and come here looking for anything so they can work. I simply pointed some of the more qualified people your way. I could have hired any of those men here at the store, but they’d either leave eventually or end up at a dead end. So what did you think?” Peter was not going to be put off.
“Two of them were fantastic, and I have to decide which of them I want to hire. They’re both qualified, and I think I could work with either of them.” I figured both Bryce and John would be a big help, and part of me had a particular preference, but I made it a point not to think with that head and make the right decisions for my business.
“Take some time and think about it. Your gut will tell you what you need to do,” Peter said optimistically, and I rolled my eyes to the empty room.
“I’ll do that,” I promised, and after talking briefly about nothing, we hung up and I went back to work. I’d lost the better part of a day, and deadlines were always looming, so I hunkered down and tried not to think about red-brown skin, long black hair, and deep eyes.
August 25, 2012
5 Stars Review for Unconditional Love from The Paramormal Romance Guild
Gloria at the Paranormal Romance Guild reviewed Unconditional Love and gave it 5 stars. Gloria said: Join Jason and Donny and the next Five Days spanning their lives as Fate has them intersecting until they get it right. See how amazing it can be. It was poignant, heartbreaking and yet such a sweet read, I could not put it down. I invite you to give it a try. I do not think you will be sorry. Read the entire review here: http://www.paranormalromanceguild.com/reviewsandrewgrey.htm
I also want to say thank you so very much to Gloria. I'm very pleased she liked it!
August 24, 2012
Rainbow Book Reviews Blog Hop
Writing M/M has come to mean a great deal to me because I’m not just writing a story, but I get to write about love. I started writing in early 2007. I had been reading gay romance for a while and decided to try writing my own story. When I started I was writing because it was new and exciting to see a story from somewhere in my head take shape on the page. As I continued to write, I found that the stories kept coming and I couldn’t turn them off. Characters appeared in my mind and I had to write their stories. Over time I realized that I was doing more than just writing stories, I was exploring a part of myself I never knew existed.
I’ve always been a bit of a romantic, but since I started writing, it seems to have kicked up more than a few notches. Dominic and I will be watching a movie, or more accurately, I’ll watch a movie and he’ll come up for the last ten minutes and ask me what he missed. I’ll be blubbering away because the old curmudgeon on the screen just found out he had a granddaughter he never knew about and Dominic will expect me to tell him what happened. Good luck with that because I’m going through half a box of tissues in a matter of minutes. Then after the movie is over, I’ll pour what I’m feeling into my current manuscript. You see I’ve come to learn that I have the best job in the world because I get to tell stories about two people doing the most amazing thing on earth, falling in love.
August 13, 2012
5 Stars and a Recommended Read for Unconditional Love
Dawn at Dawn's Reading Nook gave Unconditional Love 5 Stars and a Recommended Read.
Dawn said: With the right amount of laughter and tears to heartbreak and joy, Andrew Grey delivers another soul-stirring story to be lost in and to enjoy. I highly recommend you keep a few boxes of Kleenex on hand-you will need them. This is a story of friendship, of love, of loss and of hope. It's about how two people let love go in order to get it back-stronger and harder to break. This is what Unconditional Love is all about....and I can attest, you won't want to put it down in the end as well.
Andrew Grey delivers one of his best works to date and one that will lead you on a journey alongside Donald and Jason as you find out what Unconditional Love is all about.
Read the entire review: http://dawnsreadingnook.blogspot.com/2012/08/my-personal-review-for-unconditional.html
August 9, 2012
4 1/2 Drops from Mistress Anya for Strengthened By Fire
House Millar gave Strengthened by Fire 4 1.2 Drops. Mistress Anya loved the story and I can't think her enough for the amazing review.
I love the immense show of growth in Dirk both within Strengthened by Fire and from the very beginning in Redemption. Oh, and just a note for all you Andrew fans – Some of the guys from the …Of Love series make appearances and are their wonderful selves, lol. I love how Andrew’s stories often touch on each other.
I can’t wait for Burnished by Fire to come out – October 2012 – to find out how Dirk’s father is finally dealt with. He makes an appearance in Strengthened and tries to convince Dirk he can be ‘cured’. Yea, he went there! I’m chomping at the bit to see how Lee and Dirk finally make out in the Fire series.
Read the entire review: http://apmassie.com/%e2%9c%af-release-day-%e2%9c%af-strendthened-by-fire-by-andrew-grey/
Purchase from Dreamspinner Press: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=3149&osCsid=f4aca99vdsps8o2hhlj3s0kco3
Purchase from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Strengthened-By-Fire-Series-ebook/dp/B008UW93SU/ref=zg_bs_172503011_6
