Marie Sexton's Blog, page 37
June 9, 2011
Between Sinners and Saints on Kindle!
Now available on Kindle. Go here.
May 29, 2011
Between Sinners and Saints available now!
Between Sinners and Saints is now available from Amber Allure. You can buy it here. This book will eventually be available through other outlets like ARe, and it will eventually be available in paperback, too, but for right now, it's available only at Amber. The good news is, it's on sale!
Between Sinners and Saints has already received a couple of great reviews. One is here at Top 2 Bottom Reviews. The other is a 5+ star/Desert Island Keeper review here, at Reviews by Jessewave.
Lastly, I'm over at Top 2 Bottom Reviews today talking about craptastic SyFy movies. That post can be found here, so please stop by and say hello. Tomorrow, I'm being interviewed at Romance Around the Corner, and on Wednesday I'll be at Mercy Celeste's blog, so I hope to see you all there!
May 19, 2011
Upcoming Events
The release of Between Sinners and Saints is just around the corner. Along with it (for me) comes my daughter's birthday, visiting relatives, and a whole lot of BUSY, so I thought I'd do a quick rundown now, before I forget.
First of all, blog and promotion stuff:
Chris at Stumbling Over Chaos is giving away a copy of Between Sinners and Saints. Go here to enter. On Friday, May 20th, I'm a guest at Jessewave. I'll be babbling in my usual long-winded fashion about journeys. On Sunday the 29th, of course, Between Sinners and Saints will be released. I'll be a guest that day over at Top 2 Bottom Reviews. I have a sort of silly post in Jaime's honor lined up, so I hope you'll stop by. On Monday, May 30th, I'm being interviewed at Romance Around the Corner. On Wednesday, June 1st, I'm talking about the question "Why?" on Mercy Celeste's blog. And then on Wednesday, June 15th, I'll be at Naughty in the Backseat talking about my personal stages of writing.
Jaime
In the midst of all that, my daughter will turn seven! We'll have family in town, and we have two separate parties planned – one at a restaurant with the family, and one at Build-a-Bear for her friends (yes, my kid is spoiled).
Only a couple of days after that wraps up, I'll be boarding a bus and heading to Iowa. Heidi Cullinan, ML Rhodes, Rowan Speedwell and myself, along with f/f author Catherine Lundoff, will be hosting a booth for Capital City Pride on June 11th and 12th. If you're in Des Moines, make sure you stop by!
Almost as soon as I get home, the family and I will be turning around and heading to Florida for a week of fun in the sun. After that, maybe I'll actually get back to writing.
And although you've all seen them before, I'll leave you now with Jaime and Levi. I hope you have as much fun with them as I did.
Levi
May 13, 2011
May 10, 2011
Chatting on Thursday!
This coming Thursday, May 12th, Heidi Cullinan and I will be hosting a chat over at the Coffee Time Romance and More's erotic Yahoo group. We'll be there 11am to 3pm EST. We'll be giving away some books, and a free tarot reading by Heidi, and maybe a bit more. I'll probably share an excerpt or two from my upcoming release Between Sinners and Saints. I hope you'll stop by and chat with us for a while!
May 6, 2011
Guest: Ethan Stone!
My guest today is my good friend Ethan Stone! Ethan has a new book out today, Wolf Moon.
When college student Jack Coleman meets Derek Malone at a party, it's mutual lust at first sight. Lies and secrets almost derail the relationship, but they face the problems head on, and it isn't long before Jack and Derek decide to take their relationship to the next level. That's when things get complicated.
It turns out Derek and several other people Jack thought he knew are werewolves… and so is Jack. In fact, his unusual birthmark brands him as a Chosen One, a werewolf of great power destined to be alpha. But Jack isn't sure he's cut out to be a leader. When a pack rival, Elias Fairchild, kidnaps Derek to force Jack's hand, Jack has to make up his mind: Will he deny his newfound heritage or risk it all to save Derek's life?
And now, I'll turn the floor over to Ethan.
*****
It shouldn't be a secret that we writers are a neurotic bunch. We hear voices in our head and feel compelled to tell others what those voices are saying.
Yes, I suffer from OCD, or CDO because it really should be alphabetized.
My towels have to be folded exactly correct. And stacked perfectly too. I also rotate my towels because they all have to be used equally. I always grab a towel from the lower rack but I don't want the towels on the top rack to not get used so I have to rotate the towels. It's maddening that no one else cares about this stuff like I do.
Of course my obsessive tendencies spill over into my writing. As Marie well knows, the biggest one is names. The character name has to be right or things don't work.
Cristian Flesh was always Cristian Flesh. But his lover Colby Maddox was almost Grant Houston. And Cristian's police partner Lex was almost Claire, Tori, Toni and Dana.
The worst was Gabe. Almost every day I was telling Marie that I had decided to change his name. Originally, Gabe was going to be a minor character and not Cristian's friend. At first he was going to go by his street name which was Rooster. Right away he became a much more important character and I knew he had to have a better name. First he was Miguel, then Mickey, then Victor then Alex. He was Alex as I wrote most of my first draft. And somewhere along the way I realized I couldn't have an Alex and a Lex. So he went back to being Mickey for a first time before I decided on Gabe. Thank God for the find and replace function.
Of course, deciding on Gabe's name necessitated another name change. Annabeth, Colby's "beard" was originally named Gabrielle, which was too close to Gabe.
I am also extremely picky when I'm deciding on houses for my characters to live. I end up looking at real estate listings in the actual towns my story is set. I will spend hours trying to find the right residence even if nothing more than a basic description is used in the story.
When I wrote In the Flesh I couldn't write a restaurant scene unless I knew what the characters were eating. Could. Not. Do it. My subsequent books aren't quite as detailed regarding the meals.
When it comes to actually doing the writing I have a few neurotic tendencies. There are a couple things that are almost a must have when write. Mt. Dew is at the top of that list. It's horrible for me and will rot my teeth out, but I cannot stop drinking it.
Hello my name is Ethan and I'm a Dew-aholic.
I've cut back on it. I used to drink almost a six pack a day on my work days and more on my weekends. Now I don't drink it during my work week, but drink one 24 oz bottle a day on my weekends. Well, sometimes two.
And there is something I love to eat along with the green nectar of the gods. Beef jerky. And not just any beef jerky. Werner brand Peppered Gold Medallions. There is one store in my small town that sells them and when they run out I absolutely freak. A few weeks ago I went to buy some and they were out of the peppered kind so I had to buy the Teriyaki kind. Still good but not what I wanted.
All these things can be either good or bad for my writing career. It can be good because when these things are in place it can help get my groove on. But not having those things can sometimes derail me because getting those items is all I can think about.
Do you readers have rituals when you sit down with a book, or an e-reader? Sitting in a specific chair? Drinking just the right wine? I'd love to hear about your neurotic tendencies.
*****
Ethan is giving away a book today. Leave a comment to enter. The winner can choose any title from Ethan's backlist. You can find Ethan online here.
May 2, 2011
"Mom, somebody got their snark all over my happy place!"
"Mom, somebody got their snark all over my happy place!"
or
When Snark Goes Too Far
by Marie Sexton and Heidi Cullinan
***
We came up for the idea of this post in chat as we both were feeling frustrated by different kinds of snark. Political snark, social snark, snark against other writers, against our spouses, against the world in general. Sometimes it seems like nine out of ten tweets are nothing but snark. And then there's Facebook and blog posts and news articles and even entire websites like The Onion dedicated to nothing but snark. Both of us love The Onion, actually, but when combined with the general snarkiness (yes, that IS a word) of the world, even it becomes too much. It's become impossible to spend any amount of time on a social media platform without being inundated by snark.
It's exhausting.
So, what exactly is "snark"? Do we need to define it? What makes us feel compelled to indulge in it so often? Why exactly is it so pervasive, and so addictive? We asked each other, and neither one of us could come up with an answer. We just both knew we were sick to death of it.
The question is, what is the alternative? Have you ever tried to spend a day on Twitter without using snark? Sometimes it seems like even a benign post about puppies being cute can end up in Snarktown.
HappyTweeter: My daughter said the cutest thing!
SnarkyTweeter: I'm so sick of everybody talking about their kids. As if we care.
HappyTweeter: My husband brought me flowers!
SnarkyTweeter: Nice to constantly be reminded of my single state. Being married isn't everything.
HappyTweeter: I have a new book out?
SnarkyTweeter: Why do authors think we want to see them constantly shoving their books down our throats.
HappyTweeter: I give up.
Possibly, we're exaggerating, and yet, not really. Not by very damn much. Even writing this post, trying to explain how much we hate snark, ends up sounding like snark. At the very least, it will undoubtedly invite snark. Which is why we decided to do this post together, one, because it's so tough, and two, because this way we can try to temper each other's snark. And because it felt best to talk about it as a conversation, we decided to do it as another one of our back-and-forth chats.
***
Heidi: I feel compelled to begin with a confession that I've been snarky in the past.
Marie: As have I.
Heidi: I try really hard to refrain from national politics on Twitter, but on facebook and my blog I've been awful. At the time it seemed justified. Like I was owed. Like I was right, damn it, and the other side was wrong, and I was sick of seeing so much wrongness, and there came the snark.
Sometimes I think it's the last refuge of the angry. Or at least it should be, but it's become part of the standard response to everything. I'm having weird flashbacks to Sunday School, actually, where they told us even mean words were "killing" someone. (Not that any of the kids listened, obviously.) But I remember thinking, "Gosh. That's true. I shouldn't say mean things."
When the hell did that become standard practice–for everything?
Marie: "There are many ways to be careless – stories that we tell. Even when they're lies, we hold them like they're fragile."
Okay, just had to break out a random song lyric there.
Heidi: Dude, I was loving it. Was waiting for Ghandi to have said it. You're going to tell me it's a metal band, aren't you.
Marie: No, actually. It's Ellis.
Heidi: Damn, I was actually hoping for a metal band. Because that's what I love about our relationship. We disagree on so much. We can't even agree on the same stories that we like half the time. And yet we like each other's work. Well, I think you like mine.
Marie: When I take the time to read. (#badfriend)
Heidi: You are not. I know that you have a very sensitive reading muse. Or whatever reading vibes are called. So you're not a bad friend. Anyway. That's not the point. The point is, we are very different. We have so much room for snark.
Marie: We do have a lot of room for snark, and MOST of the time, we keep it in check. I think when we don't, we both sort of regret it later.
Heidi: Yeah. Sometimes it feels like fun teasing, but especially when it's on the Internet, not in real time, it gets that edgy feeling. If we're in the same car or sitting at IHOP, it's one thing. If it's in chat and I can't tell if that pause is because I stepped in it or your kid just fell off the couch and is crying and you didn't have time to write "brb," that's another.
Marie: Exactly. And somehow, on social media platforms, it always feels edgy. And I don't just mean between us. I mean, in general.
Heidi: You know one of my favorite things about our differences? We were both raised in Christian backgrounds, but VERY different ones. You LDS (Latter-Day Saints), me Lutheran. In fact, I am ashamed to say I was taught to view your childhood religion as a cult. But I've found that as both of us have gone away from the religions given to us and made our own life philosophies, we have the same foundations. Kindness. Goodness. Family. Doing the right thing.
Marie: Open-mindedness.
Heidi: Yeah–and there are a lot of people who would eyebrow us both. Lutheran and LDS, open-minded?
I like the way our differences teach us. I like the way you can love music I find no redemption in. I don't decide not to like you anymore. I take a second look at that song and try to see what I missed. I like you so much. Surely if you like it, there's something I'm overlooking.
Marie: Of course, even when you look, you're probably still stumped half the time, but that doesn't mean you go running off to Twitter to shout that anybody who listens to metal is obviously an ignorant sociopath.
Heidi: What frustrates me is that I feel like even talking about "let's be less snarky" paints me as a Pollyanna. And you know, I feel a bit like one writing this. But goddamn it, there has to be a middle ground.
Marie: Agreed. It's not that there's no room for being a smartass. Somehow, there's a difference between just being a fun-loving smartass, and being snarky all the time.
Heidi: I suspect this is one of those things where there is no clear rule we can follow. That it will always be a grey area. That what will amuse one person will offend another. And sometimes that can't be helped.
Marie: Totally off-topic here, but I can just say how happy I am that we both seem to use the spelling "grey" instead of "gray"?
Heidi: Gray just looks wrong.
Marie: Grey is cooler.
Heidi: OH MY GOD, WE AGREE ON SOMETHING.
Wrenching us back on topic…. Well, actually, that really is the topic. There's always a middle ground. And sometimes we can find it. Maybe it's as simple as that. Sometimes we can tease for fun. Sometimes we can vent. But if all we're doing is sniping and bitching and moaning, we're being a black hole. Leaving aside how fun that must be to live in, it's not good collectively. It isn't even about it "not being nice." All those black holes collect and converge and become the stuff that is tearing us apart: as a nation, as a planet, but also as a genre. As humans.
Marie: Agreed. I hate that social media has begun to feel like a minefield that I have to tiptoe through.
Heidi: I had to pause a minute and think because even as I believe in everything we've written here, I also love Jon Stewart. I had to do some self-examining, because isn't he snark too?
Yes, but mostly he is a satirist, which is different than a drive-by snarker. He has a show. A fake news show, and he makes it clear it is a comedic show. When he gives interviews off his show, he's very serious. He's humble. He argues, and he takes no prisoners, but he doesn't mock. When he mocks on his show, he's almost always mocking hypocrisy. Except sometimes he makes me uncomfortable too. So I guess he's guilty of being human.
Maybe the difference is that he's a professional. That he knows this is a role, a mask. He is not a snarker in real life. In real life he's a dad and a husband and all the other normal, boring things.
Marie: For myself, I think I would differentiate snark from bitching or venting or just general smart-assadness by the directness or indirectness of the target. Somehow, comments that are directed at a specific person feel less like snark to me than those that are directed at a huge, faceless crowd. For example:
"My boss's music is driving me nuts. I have no idea how he can listen to that garbage." = Venting. So it's fine.
"I must admit, I simply do NOT understand rap music. At all." = This is more like self-mockery, which is also fine.
"Is there any rap song that isn't talking about tappin' some bitch's ass?" = Smartassedness. Fine or not? I'd call this in the grey (not gray) area.
"Anybody who listens to rap clearly has a sub-par IQ." = SNARK!!!
Along the same lines, in my mind, if somebody says, "Marie sure does brag about her daughter a lot," that's not snark.
Heidi: Right. Unquestionable snark would be, "Oh, there they go again. Parents bragging about their kids. Because, you know, we all care."
To me the key is the snideness. You can argue back to "I get sick of parents bragging." You can be reasonable and say, "Well, I get what you mean, but probably they're just being proud." And that also to me sounds like, in your example, someone bitching to a friend. Not to a wide audience. But that performance snark, the stuff that gets eighty retweets because it's so "clever"–
Marie: Soapbox tweeting?
Heidi: Yeah. That's the stuff I don't want to do anymore. Because I've done it. I know I have. Someone could dig through my Twitter profile and find it, I bet you twenty bucks.
Marie: I have too.
Heidi: You feel so smart at the time. Smart and smug. Like, "Ooh, I've won. Ha, ha." Except what the fuck do you win, really? Ten seconds of Twitter fame? It's just Mean Girls all over again. And goddamn, but the mean girls have made me cry. A lot.
Marie: I think really, I'd just love to see the world, and social media platforms in general, get back to some positive thinking. Maybe a bit of pay-it-forward. Maybe just giving people the benefit of the doubt instead of always assuming the worst.
Heidi: It makes me think, again, of that discussion of our childhood upbringing. Because I bet you dollars to donuts you were taught to respect others.
Marie: Absolutely.
Heidi: I read, I think from Joseph Campbell, about how when you visit a home in India you are treated as if you are a visiting god. A deity. Not worshipped but given respect. I don't know how accurate that is, but I sure hope so. I absolutely love the idea of a culture teaching people to respect strangers. To not make them a they but make them a They. To think of the potential this person might have — of their power and worth — not of how they are in our way or look funny.
Okay, I'm sure I've utopia'd the hell out of that, but goddamn, I just love it. I wish I could live it more. That is a model I would love to aspire to.
Marie: It's something we can all aspire to. I guess, to try to wrap up this long-winded diatribe, I'll end by stating again that this is my challenge to myself: to cut the snark. At the very least, to reduce it.
Heidi: Like a Lent that never ends. Or maybe, starting as a Lent-like resolution, hoping it will turn into a life habit and eventually merge with…ourselves? I can't finish that sentence like sounding I'm a new age guru.
Marie: There is a song lyric trying to come out, but I haven't tuned it in yet.
Heidi: Okay, I know you mean that literally, but I like how that works on a metaphorical level too. Like you can feel the rightness of where you should be with non-snark, but don't know how to actualize it yet. That's like, COOL guru.
Marie: Well, I'm going to ruin the guru thing by actually giving you the lyric: "If we pretend long enough, never giving up, it just might be who we are."
Heidi: You didn't ruin anything.
All I've got is a line from Pratchett's Hogfather: "Wouldn't it be nice if everyone was nice?" Except that's really satirical. It's either a sign or a song posted at the Hogfather's grotto at the maul. (Yes that spelling is correct.) The scene is all perfect and chipper lovely and nauseating. It's crass commercialism–
(Heidi drones on about Pratchett and complex narrative. Marie blinks for awhile, trying to figure out how to artfully cut her off, and they descend into their usual chat banter which really doesn't have a place here.)
***
To wrap things up, we want you to know that we're challenging ourselves to give up snark for one week, and we'd like to invite everybody else to try it too. It doesn't mean we can't vent about our husbands leaving their dirty socks on the floor or our bosses being arrogant jerks. It just means stepping off our soapboxes and thinking of something positive to say instead of throwing out that one-line quip that could end up hurting somebody we never intended to hurt. Because wouldn't it be nice if everybody paused to consider whether their social media outburst added to the world or just gave it another wound to patch over?
We think the answer to that is, "Good god, yes it would."
May 1, 2011
Dreamspinner Press is turning 4!!
And boy, do they have tons of great things planned to celebrate!
Check this out:
Now through midnight EST May 31, 2011.
20% off all ebooks in the Dreamspinner Press store.
Plus:
Week One Specials:
40% off all ebooks that are turning 4 with us:
A Summer Place
Cursed
To Love a Cowboy
Slight Details & Random Events
Caught Running
Diplomacy
Week Two Specials:
30% off all ebooks that are turning 3
Far From Home by Madeleine Urban
Alliance in Blood by Ariel Tachna
The Archer by Abigail Roux
Murder Most Gay by John Simpson
Love Ahead by Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux
Condor One by John Simpson
Sparks Fly by Clare London
Selfless by Michael Powers
Children of Bacchus by Andrew Grey
Cut & Run by Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux
Task Force by John Simpson
Covenant in Blood by Ariel Tachna
Irish Winter by John Simpson
True Blue by Connie Bailey
Week Three Specials:
Download the first book from seven of our most popular series FREE – a different book each day.
Sunday – May 15 – Condor One by John Simpson
Monday – May 16 – Litha's Whim by Amy Lane
Tuesday – May 17 – Cut & Run by Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux
Wednesday – May 18 – Promises by Marie Sexton
Thursday – May 19 – His Hearth by Mary Calmes
Friday – May 20 – Love Means… No Shame by Andrew Grey
Saturday – May 21 – Luke by Jan Irving
Week Four Specials:
All Dreamspinner Press Anthology ebooks 50% off!
Also, a drawing each week for an ebook reader of the winner's choice: Kindle WiFi, NOOK WiFi, or Sony PRS 350SC, and 49.99 on the 2011 DD set – First Time for Everything until May 25. Finally, be sure you check the Dreamspinner Press Homepage May 29, 30, and 31st for three special surprises.
April 28, 2011
Chatting! Please join me!
I'm actually scheduled to attend two different chats this weekend. The first takes place April 30th and May 1st, basically all day, both days. It is here, at the Literary Nymphs chat room. This will be a great bunch of m/m authors. Other authors scheduled to attend are: Ariel Tachna, Kathryn Scannell, Josh Lanyon, Andrea Speed, Syd McGinley, Berengaria Brown, Amber Green, Christiane France, A.J. Llewellyn, KC Burn, Lee Rowan, Shayla Kersten. I'm sure there a BUNCH more. That's just the first list I was able to track down.
The second chat is also Sunday, May 1st, 9am to 6pm CST. This chat is hosted by and for the attendees of the GayRomLit Retreat in New Orleans. The chat will be here, at the Joyfully Reviewed Yahoo group. There's still time to sign up for the retreat itself. Click the banner below. More info on the chat is below the banner.
As for the chat on May 1st, there will be tons of authors and TONS of really fabulous prizes, so you don't want to miss it! Authors and prizes will include:
WILLIAM NEALE – HOME ~ CAROL LYNNE – SPRING ~ RICK R. REED – HOW I MET MY MAN & HOMECOMING ~ PD SINGER – CROSS THE MOUNTAIN ~ MARIE SEXTON – PROMISES ~ HEIDI CULLINAN – THE SEVENTH VEIL ~ KATE MCMURRAY – THE BOY NEXT DOOR ~ JP BARNABY – ENLIGHTENED ~ KC BURN – SPICE 'N' SOLACE ~ BELINDA MCBRIDE – BLACK WOLF ~ AMBER KELL – KEVIN'S ALPHA ~ TD MCKINNEY – PAXTON'S WINTER ~ KIERNAN KELLY – CORNFED ~ ROWAN SPEEDWELL – KINDRED HEARTS ~ EM LYNLEY – EMERALD ~ ETHAN DAY – CHOICE FROM BACKLIST ~ EDEN WINTERS – SETTLING THE SCORE ~ BRYL R TYNE – FORSAKEN & TOUGH GUY ~ VIOLET SUMMERS – ~ BRITA ADDAMS – SPLENDID CAPTIVITY & LOVE IMMORTAL ~ SIMONE ANDERSON – TO LOVE AGAIN ~ AMBER GREEN – TURNCOAT ~ LYDIA NYX – FROM MOROCCO TO PARIS ~ MISSY WELCH – KLT23 ~ DC JURIS – WHAT THE LADY WANTS & NO PLACE LIKE HOME ~ DAMON SUEDE – HOT HEAD ~ VJ SUMMERS – UNDER THE INFLUENCE ~ CLARE LONDON – CHOICE FROM BACKLIST ~ ANGELIA SPARROW – HOWL AT THE MISTLETOE ~ JAIME SAMMS – FIX THIS, SIR ~ JAMBREA JO JONES – TELL ME NOW ~ TREVA HARTE – MAXXED OUT ~ TRINA LANE – IN DREAMS HE CAME ~ TD MCKINNEY & TERRY WYLIS – PORTRAIT OF A KISS ~ JP BOWIE – BLOOD LURE & TRIP OF A LIFETIME ~ LYNN LORENZ – ROUGAROUX SOCIAL CLUB
I hope to see you at one or both chats!
Have a great weekend!
