Penny Brandon's Blog, page 4

Without A View - Cover Release

This is the cover for Without A View my new FREE short story for the Goodreads Love is and Open Road event. I'll let you know when the story is going to be released, in the meantime enjoy the cover by the talented Jess Buffett.

Readers and Writers Down Under 2015

 

Another short little video

Because of You. FREE short story.

Because of You, my FREE short story is now available to read:


 

Short Video of First Kiss

Just click on the link to see the short video I made:

First Kiss

First Kiss Review!

Reviewed by Carissa (Love Bytes)
REVIEW:  
From the moment Brenn saw the man’s reflection in the looking glass, he knew that it was the man he was destined to love forever.  From the moment Brenn heard Joey’s laugh, from across the pub, he knew Joey was the man he wanted to love forever.  All he has to do now is convince Joey of the same thing.  It isn’t going to be too hard, though.  They are meant for each other.
Except Joey isn’t the man Brenn thinks he is.  Well…not for much longer.  He is dying and he probably won’t even last another month.  So no matter how ‘destined’ them might be, it is a destiny bound to end in heartache.  Still…Joey can’t help but be selfish in this one last thing.  Three weeks with Brenn’s smile, and body, and love–Joey thinks three weeks could feel like forever in Brenn’s hands.  And after that…well, he tries not to think about ‘after’ any more.
Sometime is hurts learning just how short ‘ever-after’ really is.
Ok, I am, right now, declaring a moratorium on all sad books.  I have spent the last three days crying my eyes out, and I am running out of Kleenex, dammit!  I don’t know where everyone is hiding all the fluffy stories, but I demand one be delivered to me, on the hour, or someone is going to pay.  Look, I know a story about a guy who only has three weeks to live is going to be sad…but this just wasn’t fair.  I am emotionally damaged already. My angst levels have hit critical, and I have been sniffling at the most ridiculous things in the last 24hrs.  I just need something to make the pain go away…
…what’s that, you say? You are going to let them go at it like bunnies for almost the entire story?  Well…you might (might) be forgiven.
In all seriousness, I have been waiting for this sequel for a really long time.  I honestly didn’t think it was ever going to be written.  And I am thrilled that it was.  It is not the deepest story ever written, and yeah, healing thru the power of cock isn’t my favorite trope, but I enjoyed this story.  It did not slack off on the seriousness of Joey’s problems, but it did a good job of not making it all that Joey was.
Joey was strong, and stubborn, and so freaking brave.  But he was also scared.  Not that he was going to die, really, but that he was going to die and hurt this man that loved him.  So he tried not to love him–thinking stupidly, that if it was only one-sided, then somehow Brenn wouldn’t hurt quite so badly.  This made me want to shake him…but also try and wrap him up in all the blankets.
And while the whole sex thing was a bit too much here (for a dying guy, Joey sure does have the stamina of a teenager), I did enjoy reading it.  It was hot, while still taking into account that Joey couldn’t really do sex the ‘normal’ way.  The amount of time spent in naked-fun-time was a bit excessive, but it was also real enough that it helped the story (most of the time) instead of taking away from it.
By the end, when they are at the hospital and Brenn is holding Joey, I was a soggy ball of tears.  The resolution wasn’t exactly how I would have pictured it–and perversely I kinda wanted it to go the other way (even it would have scarred me for life)–but it did make all that pain worth it.
This was a good story, and I liked it as much as I did the first book, Choices.  Though if you haven’t read the first book, don’t worry, this one can be read as a standalone with no problem.  I do want Simon to finally get his man, though.  Poor dude needs to get laid, fall in love, and go somewhere when the furniture doesn’t predict the future (or if it does, get one that can give him the winning lotto numbers, or something (does Australia even have a lotto?)).
RATING:  

Cover Reveal "My Heart's Choice"

This is the new cover for my short stories that are FREE to read. I'm updating the old covers. I hope you like it. It was done by the lovely Jess Buffet

First Kiss (The Looking Glass # 2) hit the All Romance e-book Best Seller List!

First Kiss (The Looking Glass # 2) is a Best Seller over at All Romance E-books. Get your copy now! Buy! Buy! Buy!

First Kiss (The Looking Glass # 2) Release Date

First Kiss (The Looking Glass # 2) is being released by Loose-id on 20th May. To celebrate Brenn and Joey's story, I'm giving away a FREE e-book. All you have to do is comment to go on the draw. I will pick the winner on the 21st May 2014. Good Luck.

Blurb:
The second Brenn saw Joey’s image in the magic mirror, he was hooked. The moment he saw him in real life, Brenn knew Joey was going to be his forever. Joey was flirty, and fun, and he had the most gorgeous smile, but then Joey told him he was dying. Though devastated, Brenn didn’t want to give up on Joey, so he offered to look after him and make his last few days as comfortable as possible, but was that going to be enough when all Brenn really wanted was for Joey to live?
 
Brenn was everything Joey could have wished for; strong, built, and with amazing eyes, and Brenn was in love with him. That would have given Joey something to live for, if it hadn’t been too late. He had about three weeks left, but that didn’t seem to matter to Brenn. Brenn wanted to take him home, and Joey was willing to go with him, but on two conditions. He wanted Brenn to make love to him before he died, but no kissing.
The first book in this series is Choices. You can purchase this book from here

Blog Hop...hop...hop...hop...hop

 

I've not done one of these before, but I suppose I can figure it out (by cheating and spying on the other's who have asked me to join). Basically I tell people about what I've been doing recently and how and why I do it. So, here goes:



Question 1 (deep breath) What am I working on?

I'm on my final edits (I hope) to "First Kiss" This is the second in The Looking Glass series which I started a couple of years ago. The first one "Choices" was well received, and a lot of readers said they wanted more, so I've tried to do exactly that.
 

It's all about a magic mirror that shows a special someone who looks upon it's surface their one true love. In Choices, Marc was shown a man. Marc was straight, so his journey in finding the man he was supposed to love and convince him of that was unusual to say the least.
 
In First Kiss, Brenn is shown Joey, but when he meets Joey, he finds out he's dying. All I can say is that love is the most powerful magic of all, but have your tissues handy.
 
Simon, who is the mirror's keeper, has his story, but not yet. He's wants to find a love of his own, but thinks the mirror might not believe his love is good enough. You get a sense of what Simon is like in the Prologue and Epilogue of both books.
 
I'm also writing a new series called "Voodoo Dolls". Guess what they're about...










Question 2. How does my work differ from others of its genre?

It's not as good?
 
I don't know, but I love my characters and what brings them together. I've been told I write emotional and flawed characters who develop within the short time we get to know them. I'm not a good plot writer, so I rely heavily on the men who make me put fingers to keyboard (what happened to pen and paper?). But I've started to add paranormal elements (see above question 1), and I think that gives me a little more scope to be creative.


Question 3. Why do I write what I do?


Because I must.
 
I know you've heard writers say they have voices in their head. Well we do, and they're so persistent that quite often we'd go mad if we didn't get the pen and paper (no, sorry, keyboard) out.

Writing itself is a compulsive, but writing m/m is an enjoyment. I first hit upon the m/m genre by accident, and once I'd ready my first book I was hooked. (All those lovely men kissing each other, why wouldn't I be). Jared and Kyle from Bringing Him Home was my first attempt at writing m/m, and though it didn't go right the first time, after a lot of head banging and re-writes (oh so many re-writes) Loose-id accepted it and I haven't looked back since. 



Question 4 (nearly there) How does my writing process work?

There's a process? Oops.
 
I know I start off with a scene, but I'm not sure who's in it or what comes next. I then get someone knocking on the inside of my skull asking to be allowed to play. Once he's established and I get to know him, someone else wants to join in, and if he's a good fit, and there's chemistry between them, then we have our guys. What comes next is a mystery to me, but the guys work it out, follow my lead (sorry, I was trying to get away with being clever), I follow their lead and let them do their thing. If it makes sense at the end, they yay for me.

So, that's it I guess. I hope you've learned a little bit about me. (If you haven't don't worry--your not the only one).

 I'd like to thank Nic Starr for asking me to be a part of this. Here are some links of other's who have participated:

Suki Fleet
 
Renae Kay
 
Michelle Rae and  LV Lloyd
 
Beany Sparks



Next week you can hop over to these lovely people who were only too happy for me to twist their arm (I mean ask). (Links to come...)