K-lee Klein's Blog: Chaos in the Moonlight , page 28

Author Piper Vaughn release day interview and give-away

I'm very happy to have an author onmy blog today that I call a very close friend. I had been exchanging emails andtwitters with Piper Vaughn before Gay Rom Lit and meeting her and hanging outin person just solidified how special she was to me. Piper has a Christmasshort, Zombie Wonderland, coming out December 7 from Less Than 3 Press.


Welcome, bestie! Thanks for stoppingby. Are you ready?


Thanksfor having me, babe! I'm totally ready. And let me just say, I was thrilled tomeet you at GRL and can't wait to hang out again next year! You are an awesomelady, and I'm glad to call you a friend. :D

1.     How did you get started writing m/m romance? Did you always wantto be a writer?I've been writing and tinkering around withcharacters since I was around ten or eleven, so I can honestly say that, yes, Ialways wanted to be a writer. I wrote het romance for a long time, but Iactually started writing m/m romance back in my fanfic days, too. My first wasa songfic for one of my favorite anime pairings. There was no romance in thisspecific anime (Weiss Kreuz), but there were four delicious boys to pair up inall kinds of ways. And so I did. :) I started writing original m/m romancestories back in October of 2010. 2.     Did you have any early influences either in this genre or anyother?In this genre, I'd probably say Amy Lane in that Iaspire to be even half as good someday and I've adored everything I've read byher up to this point. She's my absolute fave. Outside of m/m romance, some ofmy faves, and therefore influences in some way or another, are JulietMarillier, Robin McKinley, Kresley Cole, Jo Beverley, Kristan Higgins,Charlaine Harris, Richelle Mead, and JR Ward.3.     What is the hardest part about writing for you? The benefits?The hardest part? Working through writer's block.Sometimes I get seriously stuck and it might take me days to move on. Thebenefits? The satisfaction of completing a story I've been dying to tell andgetting my characters to their HEA. I'm a romantic at heart. It's all about thehappily ever after for me. And if someone enjoys the story I wanted to tell,even better. :)4.     Tell us a little about your Christmas story. Are Christmas zombiesa regular occurrence in your household??My story is about a waiter named Emery O'Reilly and thecustomer he's been crushing on for a few months. He's been trying, and failing,to work up the courage to ask Ross out on a date. Before he can do it, on a stormyChristmas Eve night, the zombie apocalypse begins and the race is on for Emeryand Ross to make it to Ross's cabin up north, where Ross thinks they'd have abetter chance of surviving.  Zombies actually area common occurrence in my house, Christmas or otherwise. :) I'm a bigzombie fan—I have zombie movies, T-shirts, books, a 2012 zombie calendar just waitingto be opened after the New Year, videogames, and even a zombie survivalplan…just in case. ;)5.     Do you have any writing quirks? (ie computer has to be facing acertain way, cup of coffee on the left, certain music playing, etc)Hmm…actually, I can't think of any. Sometimes I writewith music on, sometimes I need silence, sometimes I write on my desktop in thebedroom, and sometimes it's down in the den or the basement on my laptop.Usually I like having my phone and a drink nearby, but I wouldn't call eitherof those things necessary for me to write. 6.     Do you have any writing or reading squicks? Things you don't liketo read and can't see yourself ever writing?Non-con is one thing I can't ever see myself writing.Rape is very hard for me to read and would probably be next to impossible forme to write. Dub-con probably falls on this list, too, but I can't say 100% noto that. I'm definitely not into extreme kink, like scat, golden showers, or thatsort of thing, either. Cheating would probably be on this list, too. In generalI don't like to read it, though I have and probably will in the future, and Idon't think writing it would ever come easy to me. But other than those things,I'd say most stuff is fair game. 7.     As well as being a solo writer, you also have a writingpartnership with MJ O'Shea, how did that come about and do you have apreference now? MJ and I met on Goodreads, in the M/M Romance group.Shortly after we met, we formed a crit group with several other authors, andthen one day the subject of co-writing came up. I asked MJ if she'd ever beinterested in writing with me. She said yes, and so later when I came up withthe original idea for Moonlight BecomesYou, I asked her if she wanted to write it together. Obviously, being thatMBY came out as a joint project from Loose Id a few months ago, she liked theidea. :) Do I have a preference? Hmm…both writing solo andwriting with a partner have their pros and cons. Sometimes having a partner isbetter because, hey, you're doing half the work. You have someone to bounceideas off of and work through possible plot issues. You have someone just asinvested in the story and outcome as you are, who will encourage you if you'reblocked or tired or feeling uninspired. And, of course, there's the idea thatyou're creating something together, something that came from both of your headsand blended smoothly into one cohesive vision (or at least you hope so), andthat is a very cool feeling. But, then, when you write alone, you have completecontrol. You don't have to worry about making sure your partner is okay withwhat you want to do with a certain scene or character, or having to discuss allmajor changes before you can start implementing them, or feeling like you haveto write at a certain speed so you don't let the other person down. So, yeah,pros and cons. I like both, but in different ways.8.     What's next on your plate? What are you working on?Currently, I am working on a Valentine's Day short forLess Than Three Press, which will be a follow-up to the free story I wrote forthe M/M Romance group's Hot Summer Daysanthology. After that, I have a paranormal book that has to be written, thesequel to MJ's A Little Bite of Magic.Also, I was thrilled to be invited to submit to an invite-only publisher, and Ineed to decide on which story I want to write for them, since I'm hoping tohave something submitted in the very near future. After that, who knows? I haveplenty of solo and joint projects to keep me busy for a long time to come. :)9.     What's your favorite part of ChristmasJust coming together and spending time with myfamily. My brother lived in another state for a really long time and this willbe his first Christmas with us since he moved back in 2007. So hanging out withhim and the rest of my family is really what I'm looking forward to most. Plus,I love to bake and Christmas gives me the perfect excuse to bake to my heart'scontent. :D10.  Finally – a few quick choices:a.     Coffee or tea – Depends on my mood, but usually coffee. b.     Dog or cat – Dog c.     Beach or mountains – Mountains d.     Pecs or abs – Abs :Pe.     Smile or eyes – Smile f.      Cowboys or rockstars – Rockstars! (I bet you know my answer to that already. ;D)g.     Who would win in a fight – vampires or werewolves? And why. – Well, if we're talkingreal vampires and werewolves and not the Twilightversion, I'd say probably vampires. Super human speed, strength, reflexes, etc.Unless a vamp was grossly outnumbered, I think he'd win in a fight. :)
Piper has graciouslyoffered up a copy of her holiday story, Zombie Wonderland, to one luckycommenter on my blog.  Leave your nameand EMAIL ADDRESS with your comment and I'll be doing the drawing on Thursday,December 8.
The Blurb:Nothingsays Christmas like droves of the undead… 

All Emery wants for Christmas is someone to shareit with. It looks like he might finally be getting his wish in Ross, the sexycustomer he's been crushing on for months. But neither of them counted on thezombies, or on being caught in the worst blizzard in half a century. Even witha plan for contending with the zombie hordes, surviving will take a miracle. 

It's not exactly how Emery dreamed of spending Christmaswith Ross, but he can't think of a better way to spend a zombie apocalypse.
If you don't win, you canpick it up at Less Than Three Press and besure to check out Piper's other books on her website http://www.pipervaughn.com.

Author T.A. CHASE interview and give-away

I'm thrilled to have one of the first m/mauthors I ever read on my blog today. I have a ton of T.A. Chase's books inprint and the rest in e-books, and in a round-about-way, she influenced myChristmas story because the cowboys in her Home series were the first I everread. I had the pleasure of meeting T.A. at Gay Rom Lit in October and she isabsolutely adorable, and sweet to boot. She's here today to talk about herholiday story, writing and her prolific writing schedule.
Welcome! I'm so excited to have you here,T.A. squees a little
Ah…well thank you so much, K-Lee. Itwas marvelous to meet you in New Orleans, and I hope to meet you face-to-faceagain soon. I'm so thrilled you asked to interview me. Also, it makes me smileto hear my Cowboys were inspiration for your Cowboys. :)
1.     Howdid you get started writing m/m romance? Did you always want to be a writer?Hmmm…I got startedwriting m/m romance the same way most authors who do did. I enjoyed reading it,and I got a 'what if' idea. I decided to try my hand at writing it. I've beenwriting since the third grade, so I figured maybe this time I might actuallyfinish a story…lol
2.     Didyou have any early influences either in this genre or any other?Oh I hadinfluences. JL Langley and Ally Blue in the genre. Mercedes Lackey and TamoraPierce outside the genre. JL and Ally write such wonderful character-drivenstories, full of emotions and hot men. Mercedes and Tamora's characters arejust as strong, even though many of them are female.
3.     Whatis the hardest part about writing for you?It depends. Somedays, it's the sex scenes. Other days, it's the dialogue or even just the basicstory. Of course, there are the times when I'd rather be reading or doinganything except sitting in front of my computer, which makes it difficult toconcentrate.
4.     Doesany one of your books hold a special place in your heart?Gosh…all my bookshave a special place in my heart, but I guess I have two favorites, Angel'sEvolution and Embrace My Reflection. I love Angel and Ronnie, two menstruggling to accept themselves.
5.     Tellus a little about your Christmas story. Is it a new story or related to one ofyour other books?Joy of the Seasonis about Hal Sims, who has lost all joy in life because of losing his brotherten years earlier. He meets Tavis Komen, and Tavis helps him learn to find joyin the world again. It's a new story, but I do plan on visiting Hal and Tavisagain next year. :)
6.     Doyou have a writing quirk? (ie computer has to be facing a certain way, cup ofcoffee on the left, certain music playing, etc)I have to havesomething to drink on the left. Usually it's Diet Coke in the morning for mycaffeine fix, then in the afternoon it's usually ice water. :) I always havemusic playing, nothing in particular though. I hit shuffle on my Itunes and letit go.
7.     Doyou have any writing or reading squicks? Things you don't like to read andcan't see yourself ever writing?I never say thereare things I won't read or write. There are things I don't always enjoyreading, and doubt I'd write it. I don't always like ménages, and BDSM. I'llread it every once in a while by certain authors. I've written one ménage, notsure I'll do another one. I won't be writing BDSM any time soon because I don'twant to get it wrong or have someone read it and just laugh.
8.     You'rea very prolific writer. Do you keep a writing schedule everyday? Give yourselfrewards for getting things done? Have a calendar of what needs to be done?(these may be questions I want to know for myself :P)I do. I try to doat least 2000 words a day. I get up in the morning, and hopefully be in frontof my computer by 9 at the latest.  Iquit depending on how much I have done for the day. I do have a dry erase boardwith titles written on it by year through 2016 at the moment. Each book has themonth I want to have it done by written next to you. Oh yes, I do rewardmyself, usually with a book I want to read. It's the best way to do it.
9.     What'snext on your plate? What are you working on?I'm working onDeath right now, the fourth book in The Four Horsemen series. Also, I'm doingsome work on the next Preternatural book. Plus I have a short story I'm doing alittle work on, and the story I post on my blog every Tuesday and Thursday.Once Death is done, I have Gypsies, the first book in the Beasor Chroniclesseries to start.
10. Finally –a few quick choices:a.     Coffeeor tea- teab.     Dogor cat-cat (I'm owned by two)c.      Beachor mountains-beachd.     Pecsor abs-abse.     Smileor eyes-eyesf.      Cowboysor Rock Stars- Cowboysg.     Whowould win in a fight – vampires or werewolves? And why.I think it would be werewolves because they tend to travel inpacks. Vampires don't really work together, and werewolves would be able toband together to take the vampires out.
Thank you, T.A. It's been a pleasure.  JThank you so much, K-Lee. I had lotsof fun, and I hope everyone enjoyed it.
T.A. has graciously offered up a copy of her holidaystory, Joy of the Season, to one lucky commenter on my blog.  Leave a comment with your name and emailaddress and I will be drawing a lucky winner on Thursday Dec. 6.
If you don't win, you can pick it up now at MLR Press here à http://www.mlrbooks.com/ShowBook.php?book=TACJYOFS.

Be sure to check out T.A. Chase's website for information onhow to buy her other fabulous books, too. http://tachase.com/

Switching things up - authors galore!

I'm switching things up over the next little while in hopes my blog will become a little more interesting and fun - maybe. I'm going to be doing some author interviews and offering up a few freebies in the process. I'll probably be pimping my own book until you want to scream and delete me, too, but please don't *sad kitteh face* because I'm just new and don't know better. Lol.
So I already have a few fab authors lined up including - T.A. Chase, Z.A. Maxfield, Megan Derr, Kaje Harper, Piper Vaughn, and Ethan Day, and I'm working on getting some more. Is there anyone you'd like to see here on my blog? Let me know and I'll try my hardest. :)
On a personal note, I finally have an appointment with my shrink about changing my meds to make it able for me to function like a real live person and not a drooling zombie because of the chronic fatigue. Keep your fingers crossed for me that it will all work out and I can be normal (well normal for me) again. And if anyone has any cholesterol related advice - foods, easy recipes, etc - I'd really appreciate that help, as well.
Have a good week.
Gratuitous Christmas porn -->

Beautiful Zoolights and some health issues...

Lights are my favorite thing about Christmas. I like the decorations and music too, but the lights are definitely where it's at for me. Calgary has a thing called Zoolights every year where the whole zoo becomes a sparkly lighted paradise. There are all different kind of scenes and it's truly beautiful. I haven't been in a few years, probably since my kids were small, but I think this year I'd like to go. It's definitely very sappy to say but Christmas lights let some light into my soul and my heart especially when I'm feeling low. I'm posting a few pics of Zoolights (not mine). What's your favorite part of Christmas?






Pretty right? I'm also wanted to talk a bit about my doctor's appointment yesterday. Just need to get it off my chest, hope no one minds but I guess you can always skip this part of the post. It's no secret that I have clinical depression and was hospitalized twice this year - 6 weeks each - for medication changes. The medication I'd been on for over 5 years wasn't effective anymore - probably for over a year and half, and I left it too long to say anything to my doctor so I ended up trying to make the change at home but ended up in hospital anyhow. The first time didn't pan out and I was back in two weeks later for another change. That one took but with a few side effects that I was able to deal with anyhow. The only thing that didn't work its way out was the tiredness and despite switching times and things around, it just got worse.
I had blood tests and was really hoping the problem was my iron levels - something easier to fix than other things, but it wasn't. My doctor and I talked about how I'd had Chronic Fatigue before I went on the med that helped me for so long, something I'd totally forgotten. She suggested going back on the original med since there was enough time in between to try it again and I agreed that would be the best course of action. The only problem is because she's my new doctor and doesn't even have any reports back from when I was in hospital, she wants my psychiatrist to do the changes since he knows me better. I can understand that but as much as I love my shrink and trust him (as far as I'm concerned he saved my life 7 years ago when he diagnosed me with Borderline), he's the hardest man to get ahold of and to track down. He's a great doc but more than a little scatterbrained and absent-minded. 
So now I have to wait and try to figure out if this is even something I want to try. The issue is the Chronic Fatigue will undoubtedly lead to the depression if left untreated because not being able to do things like 4 days a week breeds bad thoughts about myself, is really frustrating and yes, depressing. The other issue is whether the old drug will work again since it stopped working in the first place, or maybe it didn't even stop but my depression just became overwhelming. I liked the old med, it's the only one with an energy boost in it and I never had any side effects from it except possibly migraines but not sure about that one. Whether these two meds can be taken without a break is something I don't know yet and that may be a problem too since I don't do well with having nothing in my system, obviously if I did I wouldn't be on the doses I'm on. Hence that's why they usually hospitalize me to do it. Gonna try it at home but that'll take patience which I'm not so great at, non-judging of myself and giving myself a break while I adjust.
I guess my patience will be tested as I wait for my doc to call me back and then try to convince him that this is the thing that needs to be done for my overall state of sanity. My cholesterol results were pretty bad, my good cholesterol low and my bad cholesterol way too high. This is of concern even more so because of the early-onset stroke that runs in my family - my dad died of stroke at 32 and my uncle had one at about the same age - so what do you do for high cholesterol? You exercise and lose weight - 2 things that when you have major Chronic Fatigue are almost impossible to do - I do try but fail. The other option is more meds but my GP won't consider that until the other med changes are set and completed. So basically I'm in limbo as to what's going to go on and still exhausted as crap. I've also rebooked my sleep study for December because the first one was rejected (not a good thing to tell a Borderline) so will give that another try too. Maybe sorting out my horrible insomnia will helps things as well. All I really want to do is just write and enjoy the process and the fact that soon I'll be a published author but right now I can't even do that.

Enough of the babbling. Have a good day and rest of the week.

I have a WEBSITE!

You can probably tell from the heading that I'm a little excited, and yes, I totally am. I have a real website now, designed by the fabulous Zathyn Priest. I don't actually know how to update it yet - I'm kind of scared to try and screw it up - but for now, it's good to go. Drop by and take a peek. :)

(click on the pretty picture to go there)

So beautiful...

Such a beautiful video. I totally teared up at the end. If more people understood how normal and unintimidating the relationship between two men is, there would be so much less confrontation and homophobia in the world.






(In other news, my website is almost done and it so purty!)

Flashback Friday - Pop Idols of the 70s

I thought for Flashback Friday, I'd go waaaay back this week. Back to the 70's to be more exact when I didn't listen to the pretty boys of hair metal (I was only in elementary school still) but the pretty boys of pop. :) (I have to admit these made me smile pretty hard and that's saying a lot for the couple weeks I've had)




The Partridge Family. I loved David Cassidy (now after seeing him in Celebrity Apprentice, he's kind of a pipsqueak jerk but I still have my memories) and yes, I was alive in 1970 but only for a few years - reruns people. :P One of my fave shows growing up and I just really wanted to become a Partridge.




Bay City Rollers, about 1975-1977 - lovely Scottish lads with their pretty tartan and sexy open shirts. Lol. (FYI, Eric the guitarist with the spiky hair to the right of Les, the singer, was my fave <3)




Shaun Cassidy 1977. He was actually hotter than David (half-brothers) and went on to play Joe Hardy in the Hardy Boys tv series (I read all the books way before then - always a Hardy Boys fan and not Nancy Drew - girls, yucky - not much has changed that way.) Shaun aged much better than David by the way.



Leif Garrett 1977. I'm sure there are an abundance of boys names Leif from these years. He's still around but mostly in rehab shows and things like that. :/ Such pretty hair.



Andy Gibb 1977. The youngest of the Brothers' Gibb - Bee Gees - he died in 1988 at the age of 30 of myocarditis - so sad). He was so beautiful inside and out. I cried when he died and I still miss his pretty face.

Flashback Friday - pop idols of the '70s

I thought for Flashback Friday, I'd go waaaay back this week. Back to the 70's to be more exact when I didn't listen to the pretty boys of hair metal (I was only in elementary school still) but the pretty boys of pop. :) (I have to admit these made me smile pretty hard and that's saying a lot for the couple weeks I've had)




The Partridge Family. I loved David Cassidy (now after seeing him in Celebrity Apprentice, he's kind of a pipsqueak jerk but I still have my memories) and yes, I was alive in 1970 but only for a few years - reruns people. :P One of my fave shows growing up and I just really wanted to become a Partridge.




Bay City Rollers, about 1975-1977 - lovely Scottish lads with their pretty tartan and sexy open shirts. Lol. (FYI, Eric the guitarist with the spiky hair to the right of Les, the singer, was my fave <3)




Shaun Cassidy 1977. He was actually hotter than David (half-brothers) and went on to play Joe Hardy in the Hardy Boys tv series (I read all the books way before then - always a Hardy Boys fan and not Nancy Drew - girls, yucky - not much has changed that way.) Shaun aged much better than David by the way.



Leif Garrett 1977. I'm sure there are an abundance of boys names Leif from these years. He's still around but mostly in rehab shows and things like that. :/ Such pretty hair.



Andy Gibb 1977. The youngest of the Brothers' Gibb - Bee Gees - he died in 1988 at the age of 30 of myocarditis - so sad). He was so beautiful inside and out. I cried when he died and I still miss his pretty face.

New group and a stunning transition...

That's what I want right there -->
No drama, no hating, no bashing and no accusations.
I'll be honest and say I like groups. I like to feel a part of things and I like to lurk and participate. Groups can make you feel like you're part of something bigger, like you're not alone and flailing out in the interwebz by yourself. I haven't felt that way for a while but I've taken a first step and joined another group.


At the beginning of anything new, there's no way of knowing whether things will be good or bad, will remain calm and welcoming, will stay drama-free but I'm taking the chance and hoping for the best. The new group is also on GoodReads and it's called Rainbow Writers and Readers. It was started by Aleks Voinov as a kind of anti-hate haven. Here's the rules - "this place will be moderated and all kinds of GLBTQQ-phobic or harassing comments will be deleted." Sounds good to me - guess we'll see what happens.


I also want to post about this amazing FTM transition that is old news probably, but something I just discovered. The man's name is Balian Buschbaum and before his transition he was an Olympic-calibre German pole vaulter named Yvonne Buschbaum. He retired because of injury in 2007 and then transitioned after that. He's gorgeous and as far as I'm concerned, amazing.

Some sexy bears for a friend...

A special person in my life is going through some heartbreak right now. We don't live in the same city, the same state or province, or even the same country but my heart is breaking for him. (If you know me, you know I'm a big ball of mushy emotion anyhow) We've never met in person and he's young enough to be my son but none of that negates the fact that I care about him and what happens to him. He's my baby bear and I'm his momma, and I just want him to feel better. I know I can't do that for him but as I told him, his broken heart will eventually heal and will find someone special to love again, and I just want him to know I'm thinking about him and worrying about him.  I'm not entirely sure if he's a bear-lover but I suspect he might be so here's a few pretty pics for him - maybe to take his mind off his pain for even a little while.

*smooches her baby bear*

Can't do any kind of bear post without some Samuel Colt


Angelo Peterson

Photograph extraordinaire Mike Ruiz

Don't know this guy's name but he has some nice cheeks. :P

Not really a "bear" pic but he's sooo cute

And last but definitely not least, Tony Buff -not a bear but who doesn't love them some Buff

  And if you have Tony Buff, you gotta have some fetish, too - Tony and Derek Da Silva