Cardeno C.'s Blog, page 108
August 18, 2014
McFarland's Farm Available for Amazon Pre-Order
Happy Monday! Amazon has unveiled a new feature where they allow books to be pre-ordered and I'm really excited to share a link to pre-order my new book, McFarland's Farm. I hope you enjoy it!Description:
Wealthy, attractive Lucas Reika treats life like a party, moving from bar to bar and man to man. Thumbing his nose at his restaurateur father's demand that he earn his keep, Lucas instead seduces a valued employee in the kitchen of their flagship restaurant, earning himself an ultimatum: lose access to his father's money or stay in the middle of nowhere with a man he has secretly lusted over from afar.
Quiet, hard-working Jared McFarland loves his farm on the outskirts of Hope, Arizona, but he aches to have someone to come home to at the end of the day. Jared agrees to take in his longtime crush as a favor. But when Lucas invades his heart in addition to his space, Jared has to decide how much of himself he's willing to risk and figure out if he can offer Lucas enough to keep him after his father's punishment is over.
CC
www.cardenoc.com
Heartwarming Stories. Strong Relationships. Forever Love.
August 16, 2014
I'm so excited
I’m so excited. And I just can’t hide it. I’m about to lose control and I think I like it…
Go on – admit it. You just sang those words in your head?
Why am I excited? I’m excited because A Taste Of Honey comes out in two days and that means another story by me published. It was an unexpected bonus to my year, and it allowed me to achieve an aim that I set myself 18 months ago.
You see, I’ll take you back to January 2013, where a housewife and mummy was bored and clueless. She was a miserable failure at a lot of things in life, but she had great imagination. She had passed her Year 12 high school English Literature exam at only 52%, so she knew she wouldn’t be able to write a book. But goddammit. When people tell her she can’t do things, she gets angry. So she made herself an aim to write a book. It took her a while, but she wrote it. And hey! It wasn’t half-bad.
So it was April 2013 by now, and so she made herself another aim. She would learn how to write. She would practice. She would keep at it. And she would publish something. She didn’t care what, but she made herself an aim that she would give it a good 24 months, and she aimed to get a contract of some sort. Then she sat down and wrote the title: Loving Jay.
Fast-forward to September 2013 and this silly little woman had herself a contract in her hand. She was extremely amazed (really! She cannot express the disbelief) at this, but it was there on her email. She began to dream grand plans of being an author. You know – a published author. Not just a one-off.
So she made herself another plan. She had to dream BIG this time. Really really BIG! Her dream was to get five books a year published. It wasn’t just an arbitrary number. No – she figured that she could practice writing to the point that one book would take her two months. That would be six books a year, and giving herself a reject rate of one-in-six, she would try for five books a year. She gave herself ten years to do this. She had a goal!
By the time Loving Jayfinally hit the public in April 2014, she had four contracts. FOUR! And all four would be published by the end of 2014. So close to her goal. But she wasn’t worried. She’d given herself ten years. But then something funny happened. A short story. A desperate cry of a fellow author that she answered and whipped up a short story for him. A subject she loved. An opportunity she’d never considered. And a golden fifth contract. But the BIGGEST surprise, was that while her books had to wait in line for their editing, her little short story jumped the queue and would be published in August 2014.
That would mean… OMG! She sat there in silence. The power of speech taken from her. Five… Okay, she was cheating a little bit because her short story wasn’t really a book – it was part of a book – but it was close enough. Her goal had been reached.
That bored and clueless housewife and mummy? She’s no longer bored (she’s now flat out editing and writing!), but she will forever remain clueless. She’s decided she needs to set herself tougher goals. Winning the $70m Powerball lottery sounds like a good aim.
So in 48 hours, the Dreamspinner anthology, A Taste Of Honey hits the screaming fans (see! I told you she had a great imagination!) and this counts as a publication. So I’m taking it! Five books in one year. Goal reached.(You can buy a pre-order from Dreamspinner here).
I’m also investing in two tickets in the Powerball. It’s drawn Thursday night, so if you never hear from me again, you can imagine me living the high life on some private island…
How to contact Renae:
Email: renaekaye@iinet.net.au
Website: www.renaekaye.weebly.com
FB: www.facebook.com/renae.kaye.9
Twitter: @renaekkaye
August 13, 2014
Ask Andrew - Casting
Dear Andrew
When you write a story, do you make a "casting"? For example, when you first wrote Geoff Laughton, did you cast as specific actor or a person you know to play his role, or was it only a face, a silhouette in your head? I ask because when you describe the appearance, the attitude, the expressions of a new character in a story, it very often reminds me of a particular actor or actress, and from then on, I see him/her as that person. I won't tell you who "my" Geoff is, since you and every reader probably have their own image in mind, that most probably doesn’t match mine.Madeleine Dear MadeleineWhen I write a character I rarely cast a famous person. The images of the character come from my imagination. The inspiration for Geoff actually came from a man I knew in high school. His image popped into my head when I was first writing Geoff. Eli on the other hand resulted from a boy I saw during an a visit to an Amish bakery when I was 19.
When I'm describing a character I try to do it with broad enough strokes so that the reader and create their own image. For me what's important when creating a character, especially describing their appearance isn't for me to get across what I want you to see, but to give the reader enough that their imagination will kick in and they can for their own image of the character. There have been exceptions though. In many of the gym stories, the guys were inspired by actual people at my gym. I don't know how they felt about that and I didn't ask. (For the record my nose and face are still in their proper place)More often than not, what I end up doing when I create a character is pull attributes from various people and put them together in my head. If you as the reader pull an image of an actor to fill that character then I did my job, because your imagination kicked in and that's what I was hoping for,Hugs and loveAndrew
Ask Andrew is your chance to ask questions of a gay romance author. The questions can be about the writing process in general, writing sex scenes, gay men, sex, characters in romance, characters having sex... okay you probably get the picture. I promise to answer your questions as frankly and with as much humor as I possibly can.
So if you have a question, please send it to andrewgreybooks@comcast.net. This is different from my usual email so your questions don't get lost. I will answer one question a week.
Please remember this is meant to be all in fun. (I was going to say good, clean fun, but who wants that.) So send me your questions and let's see what mischief we can get into.
Visit Andrew on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/andrewgreybooks and you can join Andrew's fan group All The Way With Andrew Grey.
Follow him on Twitter: @andrewgreybooks
Visit Andrew's web site: www,andrewgreybooks.com
When you write a story, do you make a "casting"? For example, when you first wrote Geoff Laughton, did you cast as specific actor or a person you know to play his role, or was it only a face, a silhouette in your head? I ask because when you describe the appearance, the attitude, the expressions of a new character in a story, it very often reminds me of a particular actor or actress, and from then on, I see him/her as that person. I won't tell you who "my" Geoff is, since you and every reader probably have their own image in mind, that most probably doesn’t match mine.Madeleine Dear MadeleineWhen I write a character I rarely cast a famous person. The images of the character come from my imagination. The inspiration for Geoff actually came from a man I knew in high school. His image popped into my head when I was first writing Geoff. Eli on the other hand resulted from a boy I saw during an a visit to an Amish bakery when I was 19.
When I'm describing a character I try to do it with broad enough strokes so that the reader and create their own image. For me what's important when creating a character, especially describing their appearance isn't for me to get across what I want you to see, but to give the reader enough that their imagination will kick in and they can for their own image of the character. There have been exceptions though. In many of the gym stories, the guys were inspired by actual people at my gym. I don't know how they felt about that and I didn't ask. (For the record my nose and face are still in their proper place)More often than not, what I end up doing when I create a character is pull attributes from various people and put them together in my head. If you as the reader pull an image of an actor to fill that character then I did my job, because your imagination kicked in and that's what I was hoping for,Hugs and loveAndrew
Ask Andrew is your chance to ask questions of a gay romance author. The questions can be about the writing process in general, writing sex scenes, gay men, sex, characters in romance, characters having sex... okay you probably get the picture. I promise to answer your questions as frankly and with as much humor as I possibly can.So if you have a question, please send it to andrewgreybooks@comcast.net. This is different from my usual email so your questions don't get lost. I will answer one question a week.
Please remember this is meant to be all in fun. (I was going to say good, clean fun, but who wants that.) So send me your questions and let's see what mischief we can get into.
Visit Andrew on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/andrewgreybooks and you can join Andrew's fan group All The Way With Andrew Grey.
Follow him on Twitter: @andrewgreybooks
Visit Andrew's web site: www,andrewgreybooks.com
August 11, 2014
Puppy Pics by Cardeno C.
Happy Monday! I'm dedicating today's blog to my puppy and posting all her pics in one place. Enjoy!
CC
www.cardenoc.com
CC
www.cardenoc.com
August 9, 2014
Sex in those Dead Bedrooms
Today I’m going to talk about one of my favourite subjects – sex.
Yep! You read right! Sex.
Oh, don’t be shy and prudish. We all talk about sex. We all have sex – or at least wishing we were having sex. This is Café Risque for goodness sake. But I will let you in on a little secret – we don’t all have sex the way it’s portrayed in our books.
<GASP>
I know! Terrible, isn’t it?
Yesterday I was talking to one of the guys at my local supermarket about sex. Yes, that’s right. We talked about it. In public. My mother would be hyperventilating if she heard me. The point of the story is that I made this comment: “I remember watching a video of Where Do I Come From? when I was nine and being astonished about the mechanics of the act. Now look at me!”
Yes. I write romance books. And a part of romance is sex. Have I astonished you again? Romance and sex? Together? Yes. It is my very firm opinion that one cannot happen without the other, although the other frequently happens without the one.
My BFF is addicted to a Reddit site called “Dead Bedrooms.” I admit that I haven’t checked it out because I’m more into sex than the lack of it, but the idea of the site is that people are confessing (ie complaining) that they're living together in a long term relationship without having sex. For years.
It’s sad.
But truthfully, I think it happens a lot. And it’s not because of the sex part of the relationship, it’s the romance. People often get bogged down in the struggle to survive day-to-day and forget to nurture the romance of their relationship. So, for all the people who have a dead bedroom and want to change it, I have two pieces of advice for you:1. Turn up the romance, the sex will follow.2. Forget about Hollywood (and porn).
Now, I have to admit that I am not a counsellor or therapist by any stretch of the imagination, but I am an observer of life. I’ve listened, I’ve sympathised, I’ve asked questions. And this is simply my opinion.
So for the first point, I have to expand and talk about real life. In real life we have real jobs. There is stress and pressure. There are bills and housework. There are kids and lack of sleep due to those kids. None of these things are romantic. None of these things are sexy. And if this is all that is in your life, then I bet you aren’t wanting sex. So you need to make an effort. Remember trying to impress your new girlfriend/boyfriend? Remember flowers and chocolates and romantic walks along the beach?
I remember those. Those dates were usually rounded off with some hot, sweaty sex before the night was through. Why? Because when you’re with someone who enjoys being with you, you want to celebrate with the physical. You sometimes can’t wait to get home, and find an unlit part of the car park to do these celebrations. Sometimes you would rush home and fall into bed. The romance part of your life drives the want and need of the sex part. Sex is the part that keeps a couple together. Romance is the lubrication.
And as writers and readers of m/m, we all know the importance of lubrication.
Contrast this to the tired mother who finally gets her two-year-old to sleep. She picks up the bath towels and puts them away. She reminds herself to sign the homework folder of the older child and that the middle child needs another appointment at the eye specialist. Those bills still haven’t been paid, the dishes are unwashed and tomorrow she desperately needs to go to the grocery store or else her family is going to starve. Her husband is slumped tiredly in front of the TV. He’s worked all day, the boss is on his back and he’s conscious that if he loses his job, he may not get another one. His car is making a clunking sound that he needs to look at on the weekend, his mother is nagging him about coming over for dinner and his unmarried best mate had just posted pictures of the brand new boat he just bought on FB.
Sexy? No. Romantic? Not even close. But don’t be afraid. It’s not the end of the marriage or their sex life. It’s a hump that they need to get over. The tired husband who posts on Reddit that he hasn’t had sex since his youngest child was conceived is not thinking about his partner. The wife who complains her husband doesn’t find her sexy is not thinking about her lover.
Which brings me to the second point – sex doesn’t always happen like the movies and books. Get over it.
I’m a firm believer that sex should be fun – but that’s me. I like fun things like glow-in-the-dark condoms that brighten up my life. I think fun is more sexy than perfect. I have a friend who’s going (at great cost) under the knife in a few weeks for some work on her boobs and tummy. She’s not even thirty, but three kids and yo-yo dieting has left her extremely unhappy with her body. I can vaguely understand why she feels she “needs” to do this, but it’s sad.
We don’t all have bodies like they show on the porn movies.
<GASP>
I know, I know. Lightbulb moment again. But it’s true. Most of us (like 99%) don’t have those beautiful bodies we see on the screen. And you shouldn’t expect your partner to have that either.
I’ve read a lot of m/m romance, and those books which mention dick sizes, usually have character whose dick is on the normal to larger end of the scale. So – where are all the small dick characters who must be out there to make the average average? For every huge dick, there should (theoretically) be a small dick.
Our fiction is not representative of real life – and that’s okay. Because it’s fiction.
I admit to being turned on by the sight of a gorgeous guy, or a perfect bum encased in tight leather, or that worked abdomen. But, I also love the stories where the guys are not perfect. Receding hairlines, overweight, hairy arses? Not necessarily sexy – but real. Like I’m real. And I like being reminded of myself in characters – because a romance book is romantic, and usually comes with a happy ending.
So my advice to the Dead Bedroom complainers? Rediscover the romance. Buy flowers. Go on a date. Do the goddamn dishes for your wife. Put on a pretty dress for once. Stop worrying about your wrinkles. Don’t worry about that rounded stomach. Your dick is fine. Your boobs are fine. Buy a romance book and pick up some ideas.
Now, this wouldn’t be a good blog without chucking in some advertising somewhere. So I’m reminding everyone that
A Taste Of Honey
is coming out soon. Nine days and counting. I’m hoping for some not-so-perfect romantic stories in the book and I’m on the edge of my seat in anticipation. Fourteen short stories of yummy guys who are not perfect gym bods? Some hot sex, romantic encounters and a bit of fun? Count me in!
Available for pre-order at Dreamspinner.
Yep! You read right! Sex.
Oh, don’t be shy and prudish. We all talk about sex. We all have sex – or at least wishing we were having sex. This is Café Risque for goodness sake. But I will let you in on a little secret – we don’t all have sex the way it’s portrayed in our books.<GASP>
I know! Terrible, isn’t it?
Yesterday I was talking to one of the guys at my local supermarket about sex. Yes, that’s right. We talked about it. In public. My mother would be hyperventilating if she heard me. The point of the story is that I made this comment: “I remember watching a video of Where Do I Come From? when I was nine and being astonished about the mechanics of the act. Now look at me!”
Yes. I write romance books. And a part of romance is sex. Have I astonished you again? Romance and sex? Together? Yes. It is my very firm opinion that one cannot happen without the other, although the other frequently happens without the one.
My BFF is addicted to a Reddit site called “Dead Bedrooms.” I admit that I haven’t checked it out because I’m more into sex than the lack of it, but the idea of the site is that people are confessing (ie complaining) that they're living together in a long term relationship without having sex. For years.
It’s sad.
But truthfully, I think it happens a lot. And it’s not because of the sex part of the relationship, it’s the romance. People often get bogged down in the struggle to survive day-to-day and forget to nurture the romance of their relationship. So, for all the people who have a dead bedroom and want to change it, I have two pieces of advice for you:1. Turn up the romance, the sex will follow.2. Forget about Hollywood (and porn).
Now, I have to admit that I am not a counsellor or therapist by any stretch of the imagination, but I am an observer of life. I’ve listened, I’ve sympathised, I’ve asked questions. And this is simply my opinion.
So for the first point, I have to expand and talk about real life. In real life we have real jobs. There is stress and pressure. There are bills and housework. There are kids and lack of sleep due to those kids. None of these things are romantic. None of these things are sexy. And if this is all that is in your life, then I bet you aren’t wanting sex. So you need to make an effort. Remember trying to impress your new girlfriend/boyfriend? Remember flowers and chocolates and romantic walks along the beach?
I remember those. Those dates were usually rounded off with some hot, sweaty sex before the night was through. Why? Because when you’re with someone who enjoys being with you, you want to celebrate with the physical. You sometimes can’t wait to get home, and find an unlit part of the car park to do these celebrations. Sometimes you would rush home and fall into bed. The romance part of your life drives the want and need of the sex part. Sex is the part that keeps a couple together. Romance is the lubrication.
And as writers and readers of m/m, we all know the importance of lubrication.
Contrast this to the tired mother who finally gets her two-year-old to sleep. She picks up the bath towels and puts them away. She reminds herself to sign the homework folder of the older child and that the middle child needs another appointment at the eye specialist. Those bills still haven’t been paid, the dishes are unwashed and tomorrow she desperately needs to go to the grocery store or else her family is going to starve. Her husband is slumped tiredly in front of the TV. He’s worked all day, the boss is on his back and he’s conscious that if he loses his job, he may not get another one. His car is making a clunking sound that he needs to look at on the weekend, his mother is nagging him about coming over for dinner and his unmarried best mate had just posted pictures of the brand new boat he just bought on FB.
Sexy? No. Romantic? Not even close. But don’t be afraid. It’s not the end of the marriage or their sex life. It’s a hump that they need to get over. The tired husband who posts on Reddit that he hasn’t had sex since his youngest child was conceived is not thinking about his partner. The wife who complains her husband doesn’t find her sexy is not thinking about her lover.
Which brings me to the second point – sex doesn’t always happen like the movies and books. Get over it.
I’m a firm believer that sex should be fun – but that’s me. I like fun things like glow-in-the-dark condoms that brighten up my life. I think fun is more sexy than perfect. I have a friend who’s going (at great cost) under the knife in a few weeks for some work on her boobs and tummy. She’s not even thirty, but three kids and yo-yo dieting has left her extremely unhappy with her body. I can vaguely understand why she feels she “needs” to do this, but it’s sad.
We don’t all have bodies like they show on the porn movies.
<GASP>
I know, I know. Lightbulb moment again. But it’s true. Most of us (like 99%) don’t have those beautiful bodies we see on the screen. And you shouldn’t expect your partner to have that either.I’ve read a lot of m/m romance, and those books which mention dick sizes, usually have character whose dick is on the normal to larger end of the scale. So – where are all the small dick characters who must be out there to make the average average? For every huge dick, there should (theoretically) be a small dick.
Our fiction is not representative of real life – and that’s okay. Because it’s fiction.
I admit to being turned on by the sight of a gorgeous guy, or a perfect bum encased in tight leather, or that worked abdomen. But, I also love the stories where the guys are not perfect. Receding hairlines, overweight, hairy arses? Not necessarily sexy – but real. Like I’m real. And I like being reminded of myself in characters – because a romance book is romantic, and usually comes with a happy ending.
So my advice to the Dead Bedroom complainers? Rediscover the romance. Buy flowers. Go on a date. Do the goddamn dishes for your wife. Put on a pretty dress for once. Stop worrying about your wrinkles. Don’t worry about that rounded stomach. Your dick is fine. Your boobs are fine. Buy a romance book and pick up some ideas.
Now, this wouldn’t be a good blog without chucking in some advertising somewhere. So I’m reminding everyone that
A Taste Of Honey
is coming out soon. Nine days and counting. I’m hoping for some not-so-perfect romantic stories in the book and I’m on the edge of my seat in anticipation. Fourteen short stories of yummy guys who are not perfect gym bods? Some hot sex, romantic encounters and a bit of fun? Count me in!Available for pre-order at Dreamspinner.
August 6, 2014
Ask Andrew - Vanilla and a Little Swirl
Dear Andrew
How do I help my partner loosen up and relax while we *wink* *wink* are in the bedroom? He is a vanilla and I am more of a swirl of vanilla and sumptin sumptin. When he starts to let go he freezes up. It feels like he takes a step forward and than takes 3 steps back. I am also wanting my husband to learn to be more of a DOM in the bedroom. How? I know baby steps but I have been baby stepping for about 3 years now.
Shannon
Dear Shannon
In order to answer this question, I have to ask you one, have you talked to your husband about what you want? It seems you have. But has he agreed to take this journey with you? I know you want something more than vanilla in the bedroom, but I have to ask if that's what he wants. It doesn't sound like it to me. Like with everything in life, we all have a comfort zone and some of us don't like to step outside of them. This can be especially true in the bedroom.
A true D/s relationship, or any kind of relationship for that matter, requires two willing partners that are both committed to one another and who care for one another. Both partners need to be on the same page and understand each other. This seems to be missing here. It sounds as though the two of you are on different pages and its very possible that he isn't willing to go on the journey you are asking him to take. I know I may be telling you something you don't want to hear, but its very possible he will not be able to give you what you want.
What turns on one individual doesn't necessarily work for another. While I understand that you want things more adventurous, he doesn't seem too, and my advice for you is to talk to him. Be as plain and understanding as you can in telling him what you want. However, you must be prepared for him to explain that he can't do that. I wish I had a little trick or some piece of information that would turn your husband into exactly what you want, but I don't. If I did, I could bottle it and make a fortune or at least write a book about it. I do believe that most things, in and out of the bedroom, can be solved, or at least made better, through communication.
I truly hope I've been helpful
Hugs and love
Andrew
Ask Andrew is your chance to ask questions of a gay romance author. The questions can be about the writing process in general, writing sex scenes, gay men, sex, characters in romance, characters having sex... okay you probably get the picture. I promise to answer your questions as frankly and with as much humor as I possibly can.
So if you have a question, please send it to andrewgreybooks@comcast.net. This is different from my usual email so your questions don't get lost. I will answer one question a week.
Please remember this is meant to be all in fun. (I was going to say good, clean fun, but who wants that.) So send me your questions and let's see what mischief we can get into.
Visit Andrew on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/andrewgreybooks and you can join Andrew's fan group All The Way With Andrew Grey.
Follow him on Twitter: @andrewgreybooks
Visit Andrew's web site: www,andrewgreybooks.com
How do I help my partner loosen up and relax while we *wink* *wink* are in the bedroom? He is a vanilla and I am more of a swirl of vanilla and sumptin sumptin. When he starts to let go he freezes up. It feels like he takes a step forward and than takes 3 steps back. I am also wanting my husband to learn to be more of a DOM in the bedroom. How? I know baby steps but I have been baby stepping for about 3 years now.
Shannon
Dear Shannon
In order to answer this question, I have to ask you one, have you talked to your husband about what you want? It seems you have. But has he agreed to take this journey with you? I know you want something more than vanilla in the bedroom, but I have to ask if that's what he wants. It doesn't sound like it to me. Like with everything in life, we all have a comfort zone and some of us don't like to step outside of them. This can be especially true in the bedroom.
A true D/s relationship, or any kind of relationship for that matter, requires two willing partners that are both committed to one another and who care for one another. Both partners need to be on the same page and understand each other. This seems to be missing here. It sounds as though the two of you are on different pages and its very possible that he isn't willing to go on the journey you are asking him to take. I know I may be telling you something you don't want to hear, but its very possible he will not be able to give you what you want.
What turns on one individual doesn't necessarily work for another. While I understand that you want things more adventurous, he doesn't seem too, and my advice for you is to talk to him. Be as plain and understanding as you can in telling him what you want. However, you must be prepared for him to explain that he can't do that. I wish I had a little trick or some piece of information that would turn your husband into exactly what you want, but I don't. If I did, I could bottle it and make a fortune or at least write a book about it. I do believe that most things, in and out of the bedroom, can be solved, or at least made better, through communication.
I truly hope I've been helpful
Hugs and love
Andrew
Ask Andrew is your chance to ask questions of a gay romance author. The questions can be about the writing process in general, writing sex scenes, gay men, sex, characters in romance, characters having sex... okay you probably get the picture. I promise to answer your questions as frankly and with as much humor as I possibly can.So if you have a question, please send it to andrewgreybooks@comcast.net. This is different from my usual email so your questions don't get lost. I will answer one question a week.
Please remember this is meant to be all in fun. (I was going to say good, clean fun, but who wants that.) So send me your questions and let's see what mischief we can get into.
Visit Andrew on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/andrewgreybooks and you can join Andrew's fan group All The Way With Andrew Grey.
Follow him on Twitter: @andrewgreybooks
Visit Andrew's web site: www,andrewgreybooks.com
August 4, 2014
July by Cardeno C.
Happy Monday! Okay, now that that's out of the way, where did July go? Seriously. Where did it go? How is it August? Either it's my busy schedule or the hot weather or a lack of caffeine (pft!), but time is slipping by. Okay, enough of that, here's July's writing recap.
In Your Eyes, a standalone novel in my Mates series, was released
on July 14th. Releases are always fun but scary and this was no exception. For those of you who read the book, I hope you enjoyed it.
I've been working on edits for McFarland's Farm, the first book in my new contemporary novella series called Hope Crossing.
I've also been working on edits for The Half of Us, the next Family series book. It’ll be released on October 10th.
And last but not least, I'm finishing up a new wolf shifter book for what I hope will be a new shifter novella series.
Have a great week.
CC
www.cardenoc.com
In Your Eyes, a standalone novel in my Mates series, was released
on July 14th. Releases are always fun but scary and this was no exception. For those of you who read the book, I hope you enjoyed it.I've been working on edits for McFarland's Farm, the first book in my new contemporary novella series called Hope Crossing.
I've also been working on edits for The Half of Us, the next Family series book. It’ll be released on October 10th.
And last but not least, I'm finishing up a new wolf shifter book for what I hope will be a new shifter novella series.
Have a great week.
CC
www.cardenoc.com
August 3, 2014
Looking After Joey Winner and Other Giveaway Goodness
My e-book giveaway winner from last week's David Pratt interview is Alaina! I'll be contacting you shortly about your prize. Check out his latest release, Looking After Joey, at Wilde City Press and Amazon.
Want more freebie opportunities? Have you signed up for my newsletter? I'll be giving away either a paperback or e-book with each new release, starting with tomorrow's launch of Stripped Away.
You can also win an e-book copy of Stripped Away over at Sinfully Sexy Book Reviews. They're also giving away a copy of I Swear to You by my buddy Sloan Parker - I love this book. You'll love it too. Get yourself a copy.
It's been a loooong and tiring weekend so that's all I have for now. More later.
Happy reading,
Love, Ellis
August 2, 2014
Getting to know Renae Kaye
Umm – Renae?
Yes?
It’s Saturday and you need to blog on Café Risque.
Oh, no! I do? What should I say? What should I blog? Oh no oh no oh no…
Calm down! Jeez! Why are writers always so emotional? Look – how about you tell us about how you became a writer? When did you start writing?
Oh. Umm – I think I was five. My teacher gave me a pencil and showed me how to write the first letter of the alphabet…
Do you realise I’m gritting my teeth in exasperation at the moment?
<cheeky grin> Okay, okay. The truth is just boring, that’s all. I started writing my first novel in February 2013. Once I finished that, I started writing Loving Jay. It was accepted on its first submission, and that was it.
Wow. You mean you’d never written before? Why not?
I’ve grown up with a huge imagination. I’m the youngest in my family, and thus I was ignored by my older siblings a lot (woe is me!), leaving me to make up my own games. I created worlds and families and friends in my mind. I also read a huge amount of books.
But in school I excelled at maths and science. English was my weak subject, so I’ve always considered myself as a very poor candidate for a writer. Then in January 2013, I got the crazy idea to write a novel - and it was an interesting challenge to me. So I did it. No fanfare. No biggy. Just did it.
So you think anyone can do it?
Yes – within reason. First of all, you need to read and read and read. There are a lot of technical help books, blogs and sites that can help with the different aspects of writing. I’ve read them and can see that I instinctively do a lot of it – things like pacing and plots. That comes from subconsciously absorbing all those books I’ve read. Things like grammar can be assisted with editors.
But something that I think successful authors have that wanna-be authors lack? Persistence and tenacity. I’ve written six full-length novels to completion (and I’m not going to mention the 16+ others languishing in my computer). In every single book I’ve written, there comes a point (and often more than one) where you either lose your steam, or you are unsure where to go. There is a hump. Wanna-be’s give up. Authors push through. They write when they don’t feel like it, they erase pages and try again, they sit on it and come back to it. Whatever it takes – but they push through and make it to the end. Then they revise revise revise.
How do you get inspiration?
Anywhere and everywhere! One day I was driving through a suburb and saw a man walking two dogs down the path. I only saw the guy from the back, but he had a blond plait that reached his bum. That image stayed with me until I had to write him a story – why does he have such long hair? If that story is published, you will meet him – long plait, walking his dogs down the road.
Most of my stories come from the questions “Why?” or “What if?” Some of the inspirations for my unfinished manuscripts are:
- what if you woke one morning and you were not only 200 years in the past, but a different country?
- what if you had grown up living in the forest, and were put in a prison below ground?
- what if your parents forgot about you one day and lost you?
- why would you say no to a date with the most gorgeous man you’ve ever met?
- why would a hot, young man pick an aging, boring person to fall in love with?
Can I ask a question about last week’s blog? Were you joking about the spiders and snakes?
No. Sorry. We do have them here in Perth.
Really? Do they come in your house every night?
The snakes – not really. I live near a lake, so I see them around my house on an average of once a year. Either tiger snakes or dugites – both are extremely venomous. I have a good friend who is a snake catcher, and she and her husband would get about ten calls a week during the summer. The snakes are around, but it is rare to get bitten.
The spiders are everywhere. Only the redbacks are a worry for me (cousins to the black widow). I would eradicate about fifty per year from my house and yard. We don’t get funnelweb spiders in Perth (big, black scary MFs!!) – they only occur in the Eastern States of Australia.
Renae as a two-year-old, reading to her dolls
What about crocodiles?
Not in Perth.
Sharks?
Yes. Sorry. But out of all the people who go swimming each year, you would have to be unlucky to be the shark victim.
That is not reassuring.
Oh. Sorry. How about if I tell you the weather is beautiful here? Today (the middle of winter) was a sunny 19 degrees Celsius (about 65F). We never get snow.
Oh that sounds magical!
Yes, I’ve spent the afternoon planting strawberries and rhubarb, and readying my veggie garden for spring planting.
Not writing?
Oh, whoops. Shh! Don’t tell anyone.
What are you going to blog about next week?
Oh, man! Pushy, aren’t you? Okay – I’ll think about it. See you then. <waving>
How to contact Renae:
Email: renaekaye@iinet.net.au
Website: www.renaekaye.weebly.com
FB: www.facebook.com/renae.kaye.9
Twitter: @renaekkaye
August 1, 2014
My Very FIRST Release Party!
So this past weekend something really amazing happened for me. I had my first official release party. The in-person kind, and not the virtual kind. It was wonderful. It was emotional. It was exhilarating. Especially because of the company. The book is called "Summer Lover" and it was inspired by a gay men's retreat that I have been going to every summer for 12 years called the Midwest Men's Festival. I have never know the like of these incredible men. They are brothers, magick workers, friends, teachers, tricksters, comedians, Many years ago there lived a very important gay man who in many ways was one of the most important gay activists ever. It was out when you couldn't be out and fought for gay rights, legally, when you shouldn't have been able to.
And then, when being gay became more and more acceptable, he took it one step further and re-claimed gay men's rights NOT to be acceptable. Meaning, mainstream. He didn't want gay men to feel they had to "fit in." That they could be as queenie or queer as they wanted to be. That they didn't have to act "just like" straight people. He worried that we gay men were becoming homogenized. And isn't that ironic word? He created the Radical Faerie movement and queerness has never been the same.
MMF is not an official RF group, but it's close. And it took me in and loved me and made me brother and sister and faerie all.
And as the years passed, I knew more and more I wanted to try and share the magick of what it is like to be a part of such a group of men. That in a big way is what "Summer Lover" is all about.
It was very important to me to have the book be released at the actual event from which it was inspired, but for some reason I was nervous. What if my brothers didn't like what I had done? LOL! How silly of me! They flocked to my party and supported me completely. I sold out of all the new book in about ten minutes and most of my older books as well!
Here are some of the wonderful reviews! From Love Bytes (formerly the blog of Sid Love) comes this review by the wonderful Danielle. http://lovebytesreviews.com/2014/07/30/recent-release-review-summer-lover-by-b-g-thomas/ Then, at MM Good Book Reviews, the kind words of Portia De Moncur…. http://mmgoodbookreviews.wordpress.com/2014/07/27/summer-lover-by-b-g-thomas/
It was quite a surprise to see the table all set up and see just how many books I have now, and that's not counting all the novellas and short stories that are not in physical print. What a dream come true!Do you have a dream? If you do I hope that you pursue it. Don't let ANYONE tell you that you can't do what your dreams tell you to do. You are not too young or too old or too skinny or too heavy or too anything! Do what your dreams tell you to do! Leap! The net will appear!
With much Love,
BG Thomas
By the way, this is me with the REALstar of my novel "Hound Dog & Bean." The joy and light of my life, Sarah Jane!
