Lisa Henry's Blog, page 4
May 11, 2021
A Husband for Hartwell - Out Today!
Yay! A Husband for Hartwell, the first book in JA Rock and mine's Regency series, is out today!
He must marry, or risk his fortune.
The whole of London Society has long assumed Lord William Hartwell will marry his childhood best friend, Lady Rebecca Warrington. After two Seasons, Hartwell remains quite content with bachelorhood--his parents do not. When Hartwell learns they intend to cut his purse strings unless he makes a match this Season, he resigns himself to a marriage of convenience with Becca, and yet he can't help but be drawn to her younger brother, Warry.
He must marry, or risk his sister's ruin.
The Viscount "Warry" Warrington is used to being viewed as the tagalong little brother. Now a grown man about to enter his second Season, Warry is desperate to be seen. When Lord Balfour, a handsome older peer, takes Warry under his wing, Warry thinks his dream is finally coming true. Until Balfour reveals his true intent--to make public a letter that will destroy Becca's reputation, unless Warry agrees to marry him.
Time is running out for both of them.
When an injury forces Warry to recover at Hartwell House, the two succumb to a secret flirtation. But Warry's sudden announcement of his engagement to Balfour drives Hartwell near mad with jealousy--and right into Becca's arms. With the clock ticking for Warry to save his sister, will Hartwell discover the truth of Warry's feelings before it's too late?
A Husband for Hartwell is the first book in the Lords of Bucknall Club series, where the Regency meets m/m romance.
You can buy A Husband for Hartwell on Amazon.
March 18, 2021
March Round Up!
Wow, it has been way too long since I wrote a blog post, hasn't it? So let's get caught up!
I have a Facebook Group now that I keep forgetting to tell people about. You can find it at Lisa Henry's Hangout. We've got a good group over there, and we do fairly regular competitions and giveaways. Also, if you join the group, you can check out a bunch of exclusive free reads!
And now for some book stuff!
The Family Kitchen Box Set is now available in KU, so if you've been waiting to read Family Recipe and Recipe for Two, you can get them both together now!
You can find it here on Amazon: Family Kitchen Box Set.
Meanwhile, since I forgot to announce it here when it happened, the third and final book in the Adventures in Aguillon series is out:
You can find Socially Orcward here on Amazon.
And the first two books in the series, Red Heir and Elf Defence , are both out in audio, read by the amazing Nick J. Russo! They're available on all audio platforms, but I've included the Audible links here.
Red Heir on Audible.
Elf Defence on Audible.
And Socially Orcward will be coming to audio very soon!
Meanwhile, if you'd like to be updated much more frequently than I remember to write blog posts, you may want consider signing up for my joint newsletter with JA Rock. You can sign up for that here.
October 21, 2020
Elf Defence is out tomorrow!
Woohoo!
Elf Defence is out tomorrow. Or the next day if you're in the US, because timezones are a thing that exist. But it's out on the 22nd of October, whenever that happens for you.
If you enjoyed the raging stupidity of Red Heir, then you'll be pleased to know that Sarah and I didn't hold back at all when it came to writing Elf Defence! There are elves, gingerbread, a hot cowherd in lederhosen, an even hotter lady blacksmith, guards, trolls, a monster, a missing cow, an angry goose, and as many references to The Sound of Music as we could put in without getting sued.
Elf Defence is available to buy here: https://books2read.com/elfdefence
Royal envoys Calarian and Benji embark on a quest in the alpine duchy of Tournel. Things go rapidly downhill when the duke plummets to his death from the tower wall. Whoops—that's going to be hard to explain. And it’s not as though they can just grab the nearest human and make him the new duke.
Or can they?
Enter one Lars Melker, a slightly gullible cowherd built entirely of muscles and sunshine, who happily accepts their word when they tell him he’s the duke now.
Soon Calarian and Benji are knee deep in teaching Lars how to fake it until he makes it. They're also dealing with mountain trolls, a monster, a missing cow, and, most shocking of all, a growing realisation that their elves-with-benefits arrangement might be turning into something with feelings.
Add in their mutual attraction to Lars, and suddenly the hills are alive with the sound of emotionally compromised collectivist anarchist elves.
Also, what’s the deal with those leather shorts?
May 18, 2020
The Dark Space series is coming to audio! Plus, have a free short story!
You can preorder the first book already, here: Audible
It's out on the 29th!
And I'm sure you've noticed that cover Brady has had a it of a face lift. This is because, unfortunately, the model for original Brady is no longer available for covers. But don't worry, he'll be staying on the book covers!
I've also got a tiny freebie for everyone today. New Year's Day was written for the When the Smoke Clears anthology which raised money for firefighters and wildlife following the devastating Australian bushfires.
And now you can get it for free!
Download the PDF here.
Download the mobi here.
Download the epub here.
And while I'm remembering in awkward promo mode, have you joined my Facebook readers group Lisa Henry's Hangout yet? This month I'm giving away a signed paperback of your choice, and some Fabula storytelling cards. Also, you can cast your vote there for which characters I have to write a short story about when I hit 250 members, and that short story will be exclusive to the group! So far Nick and Jai from Adulting 101 are in the lead!
April 16, 2020
Dreamspinner
And, to make it perfectly clear, just because they have paid me in no way excuses the fact that they stole from me--and countless other authors (most of whom still haven't been paid)--to begin with.
For the absolute biscuits out there (and I am referring to authors, not readers) who are still living in denial: royalty money is meant to remain in escrow. It is NOT the publisher's money to use for other purposes. It is the authors' money. The fact is, Dreamspinner was paid money by retailers, and that money somehow went missing when it came time to pay it to authors. This is theft.
Dreamspinner has lied repeatedly. Dreamspinner tried to blame a third party, Tipalti, for the fact our royalties hadn't gone into our accounts. Elizabeth North stated in an email to me that "There are parts of what I do that I don't have control over once I initiate the action. I stated that payments would be sent through Tipalti by 1/10 and they were." What she failed to mention, of course, was that the reason the payments didn't go through was because there were no funds in the account. You can check my Twitter for receipts on that from Tipalti.
Anne Regan stated to me that "We have paid authors over $13.3 million dollars in royalties over the last decade. All of that income has been properly accounted for and paid out. We hit a crisis in 2019 that we are doing the best to correct." She further stated that royalty money was held in an escrow account. It's not a crisis when someone raids the escrow account, Anne, it's theft.
Also, I don't care if you were a fantastic publisher for a decade. That's irrelevant. That's like saying "Well, my wife and I have been married for twelve years, but I've only been beating her for two." What do you want, congratulations?
During this whole mess of a journey, I've been called a greedy child by a DSP author for having the audacity to want the money that was stolen from me, as though it just vanished due to some bizarre fluke of fate. Could have happened to anyone, right? Well, no.
I've worked with publishers before that have closed because they could no longer see a way forward. And guess what? Royalty money was still paid when the business was wound up, because nobody had taken the money from the escrow account.
If you are an author, do not sign with Dreamspinner. Hundreds of their authors are still awaiting payment. Elizabeth North stated that payment plans would be sent out by the restructuring firm Berger Singerman, and that they hoped to contact the majority of authors by March 15. I am in contact with 160+ DSP authors. That's about 10% of the total number of authors, which should be a decent sample size, right? Guess how many have been contacted about a payment plan? If you guessed zero, you would be correct. In fact, the only authors I know who have been contacted by Berger Singerman are those who have hired their own lawyers.
These are just some of the lies of the past 6 months. There have been many, many more.
My opinion as an author: Dreamspinner can go fuck itself.
My opinion as a reader: I will never buy a DSP book, however good it looks, because I have no way of knowing if the author is getting paid.
And it's not just the authors who haven't been paid. It's also editors, translators, cover artists and more.
Oh, and if DSP thought that paying me would shut me up, it looks like they were wrong.
Before I go, here's another easily provable lie from Elizabeth North and Dreamspinner: "December reports will be uploaded by January 15, and December payments will be made by January 31. Each month after that will report by the 15th and pay by the end of the month."
That never fucking happened for the vast majority of authors, many of whom haven't received a payment in six months.
April 3, 2020
Mustard Seeds and Anzac Biscuits
Ingredients
110 g (1 cup) rolled oats
150 g 1 cup) plain flour
120 g (2/3 cup) brown sugar
70 g (2/3 cup) desiccated coconut
125 g butter2 tbs golden syrup see recipe notes
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
Instructions
Preheat oven to 160 degrees celsius (fan-forced). Grease and line three flat baking trays with baking paper.
Combine the rolled oats, flour, brown sugar and coconut in a bowl.
Place butter, golden syrup and 2 tablespoons cold water into a microwave-safe bowl and heat for 3 minutes, 50% power or until melted. (Or do it on a stove top.)
Stir through the bicarbonate of soda.
Pour the butter mixture over the oat mixture and stir to combine.
Roll level tablespoons of mixture into balls.Place on trays, 5cm apart and flatten slightly.
For chewy ANZACS, bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until light golden. For crunchy ANZACS, increase cooking time to 12-15 minutes.
Leave on the baking trays for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Enjoy!
The Parable of the Mustard Seed is out now from Amazon and is available in KU.
The past never stays buried forever.
John Faimu is an Australian-Samoan police officer who deals with hurt kids every day. He loves what he does, but he’s tired of the grind of shift work, and of trying to find a balance between his job, his family, and the young man who straddles the increasingly blurry line between both.
Caleb Fletcher was the teenager John saved from a cult eight long years ago, and he’s now the young man John wants in ways that neither of them should risk.
Eight years after his rescue, Caleb is still struggling with PTSD and self-harm. John has always been his rock, but now Caleb wants more. Can he convince John to cross a line and love him the way they both crave? And when the monsters from Caleb’s past come back seeking to silence him for good, will John’s love be enough to save him?
The Parable of the Mustard Seed is an mm gay romance featuring hurt/comfort, first times, found family, and angst with a happy ending.
March 21, 2020
Recipe For Two - Out Now!
Recipe For Two can be read as a standalone, although it is set in the same universe as Family Recipe. It's not quite a sequel though! If you liked four-year-old Wyatt in Family Recipe, then you can read Recipe For Two to see how he's all grown up!
Wyatt Abbot is 19. On the outside, he lives the perfect life. He has a loving family, he’s wealthy, and he has just been given the opportunity to travel to Paris and train under one of the world’s best pastry chefs. But underneath all that, Wyatt is struggling. He’s battling anxiety, he’s scared of the future, and he’s struggling to come to terms with the fact that he’s genderfluid.
Izzy Kostas is 28, and on parole. When he gets a job at Abbot Organic Produce, it’s a chance for a new start. Izzy has his own demons he’s trying to overcome, but meeting Wyatt throws even more complications his way. Izzy has always thought of himself as straight, and certainly didn’t expect to fall for his boss’s little brother.
When Izzy is blamed for putting the Abbots at risk, it jeopardizes everything he and Wyatt have begun to build together. Izzy knows how important family is to Wyatt, and he doesn’t want him to have to take sides. But when it comes to found families, nobody is perfect, and there’s always room for another seat at the table.
Buy it here at Amazon.
The Parable of the Mustard Seed - preorder now!
The past never stays buried forever.
John Faimu is an Australian-Samoan police officer who deals with hurt kids every day. He loves what he does, but he’s tired of the grind of shift work, and of trying to find a balance between his job, his family, and the young man who straddles the increasingly blurry line between both.
Caleb Fletcher was the teenager John saved from a cult eight long years ago, and he’s now the young man John wants in ways that neither of them should risk.
Eight years after his rescue, Caleb is still struggling with PTSD and self-harm. John has always been his rock, but now Caleb wants more. Can he convince John to cross a line and love him the way they both crave? And when the monsters from Caleb’s past come back seeking to silence him for good, will John’s love be enough to save him?
The Parable of the Mustard Seed is an mm gay romance featuring hurt/comfort, first times, found family, and angst with a happy ending.
Preorder now from Amazon.
March 1, 2020
When the Smoke Clears
When the Smoke Clears is a gay romance anthology that contains stories related to the 2019-2020 Australian bushfires and the heroes who helped control them and save lives. It is a multi-author anthology raising money for the Country Fire Authority and Wildlife Victoria.
Authors include Ann Grech, Becca Seymour, Bronwyn Heeley, L.J. Harris, L.J. Hayward, Lisa Henry, Louisa Masters, Meg Bawden, Naomi Aoki, Nic Starr, T.A. Bellmond, & Zoe Piper.
Stories included:
A Little Bit Like Love by Ann Grech High Alert by Becca Seymour Safe in His Arms by Bronwyn Heeley Every Picture Tells a Story by L.J. Harris Flying Embers by L.J. Hayward New Years Day by Lisa Henry After the Blaze by Louisa Masters Smoke and Ash by Meg Bawden Wild Heat by Naomi Aoki Facing the Heat by Nic Starr When Sparks Fly by T.A. Bellmond Cinders by Zoe Piper
You can buy it here on Amazon. Paperback and other retailers coming soon.
I'm so glad I was able to contribute to this anthology.
The devastation of the fires in Australia was on an unprecedented scale, and if you'd like to do something to support two very worthy organisations, then please consider buying a copy of this anthology.
All proceeds go to Country Fire Authority (Vic) and Wildlife Victoria.
And thanks, of course, to the organisers and other contributors of the anthology, including all the amazing editors who donated their time and their skill to this cause.
February 4, 2020
Audio titles - coming in 2020
And that's not all! I hope fans of the Dark Space series are as happy as I am when I tell you that Brady and Cam are coming to audio as well!
Thank you to everyone over the past few years who asked about getting Dark Space into audio. This was a huge step into the unknown for me as all these titles are now self-published, but you gave me the boost to get out there and find out if there was a way to make it happen.
