H.B. Pattskyn's Blog, page 9

Doodle Tuesday

I've decided to use Doodle Tuesday (here's the Facebook page) as the kick in the butt I need to get back to my Tarot Deck project. Or, to be more accurate, Tarot Deck Project Take Three.  Take One was a beautiful watercolor Egyptian inspired deck that I sort of ran out of steam on. Take Two is still sitting uncolored on GINORMOUS (11x14, I think) paper. Okay, that's not really ginormous, but when you're trying to color in 80+ cards.... yes, tarot people, 80+ cards because I'm a masochist...erm, I mean I was inspired by the  Minchiate Tarot , in particular Brian Williams' deck. I'm not working in the same style as Brian Williams, but I *am* a huge fan. His Renaissance Tarot was my first tarot deck and I still love it--and I'd love to get my hands on his Light and Shadow Deck, but so far all I've been able to procure was the book.

Doodle Tuesday is a project within the You Will Rise Project, co-founded by Paul Richmond, the awesome artist who did the cover of my first novel. You Will Rise is all about rising above bullying a subject I'm unfortunately pretty familiar with.
When I was younger, I didn't fit in with my peers. I dressed funny (we didn't have a whole lot of money) and I was being raised by my grandmother (something that was far more unusual in the seventies than it is today, at least in the little slice of suburbia I called home). I was (and still am) an introvert in a world filled with people telling me that being an introvert was Bad. They said I was shy and that was Really Bad. (I'm not shy by the way; a lot of people simply confuse introvertedness with shyness). By the time I got to be a teenager, I fit in even less. And when you don't fit in, you get picked on.

The only "good" thing about my situation was that it was pre-internet. I could come home and leave all of the shit some of my classmates spewed at me behind. These days, kids don't have that luxury. They have Facebook, Tumblr, Instagram, Twitter, email, texts, a million ways to connect to the outside world--and a million ways for bullies to continue to hurt them. My Tarot Project isn't about bullying; the deck is relatively standard (sort of), but as an author and an artist, I bring awareness to things the only way I know how: through my words. So I'm using this platform to a) kick my butt into gear and (far more importantly) b) bring much needed attention to an important issue. Bullying isn't just kids letting off steam. It's not okay. We're letting bullies kill our children with their words and their cruelty. We're letting bullies grow up into adults who will continue to bully and harass their peers because believe me, it's not just kids who get bullied. This isn't a small problem, or something that only affects "other people." This affects all of us and it has to stop. That happens when we speak up, when we take a stand, when we say "no more." It happens through awareness, education, and compassion.

And most of all, we need to let the victims know that they're not alone. It gets better. There is hope and there is help. In the U.S., you can call the Suicide Prevention Hotline (1 800 8255). You can also visit the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Website. (http://www.afsp.org).

I've completed five cards this week (obviously not all on Tuesday) as well as writing about 9,000 words in the last seven days. Not enough to meet my daily goal, but still 9000 words closer to the end  :)

First you'll see the original drawings, done with Prismacolor pencils (which are not easy to photograph); following those are the formatted card that will be going to the printer once the deck is completed. The formatted images are what happens when I have too much fun with photo editing software have been digitally altered/enhanced to add special effects and balance the color from my rather lousy photography. (The images going to the printer will be a better res. these are the "almost finished" versions).

All in all, I'm having fun, though (although I'm kinda ready draw some happy cards!)


 




Five down, eighty-eight more to go!Helen Pattskyn, Fantasy Artist, Gay Romance Author

Welcome Shira Anthony!

I hope everyone had a fantastic holiday and didn't drink *too* much eggnog  *G*! We're still in recovery mode from eating too much Chinese at my sister in law's on Christmas Eve, and I'm still the world's best mom for getting my daughter a laptop for Yule  :)  I'm very pleased to be hosting my friend, the lovely and talented Shira Anthony today. I love Shira's Blue Notes series and look *very*  forward to carving out a little post-holiday-insanity time to read Symphony in Blue. (Probably after the kid-let goes back to school.)Take it away, Shira! Thank you, Helen, for hosting me!  It’s been a busy holiday season so far, since I have two releases in my Blue Notes Series of music-themed gay romances: Encore (released November 11th) and Symphony in Blue (released on Christmas day).  Symphony in Blue also happens to be my 10th Dreamspinner Press release, so I’m going all-out with a Blue Notes Holiday 2013 Tour giveaway contest featuring a grand prize of a Kindle loaded with e-books as well as other fun goodies (details at the end of the post).The Blue Notes Series books, with the exception of Symphony in Blue, are standalone novels and can be read in any order.  Encore shares themes in common with the other Blue Notes books: music and musicians, a heavy focus on character development, and long-term, committed relationships.  And in Symphony in Blue, readers have an opportunity to revisit some old friends and share in the gift of developing love.  It’s a happily-ever-after after the happily-ever-afters in the first four books. I love happily-ever-afters, but not the Harlequin variety.  I’m thinking years down the line, not wedding days, or the first time a couple says “I love you,” or even when a couple moves in together.  I love to write what happens when an established couple grows and changes with time and experiences. Happily-ever-after isn’t a moment in time—it’s a state of mind, and it continues over time.  And writing those happily-ever-afters was so much fun, especially because it gave me a chance to spend a bit more time with the characters.Looking for sexy hot romances with fluffy scenes?  I think you’ll like the Blue Notes books.  But if you’re also looking for something more—for something more real than Cinderfella and his prince? I think you’ll enjoy these stories about real men in real relationships making love work over time and through obstacles.  You can find all of my Dreamspinner Press books by clicking here.  Want to read more about me and about my books, including free fiction and excerpts?  Check out my website, www.shiraanthony.com.  Don’t forget to enter the Blue Notes Holiday 2013 Blog Tour giveaway by clicking here (Rafflecopter).  There are plenty of ways to enter, and you can enter more than once by commenting, tweeting, buying books, and liking pages.  I’ll be drawing winners on New Year’s Eve at midnight!  Good luck! –Shira*****Excerpt from Symphony in Blue: DAVID TAPPED his cellphone, shoved it in his pocket, and rubbed the bridge of his nose. David and Alex        “Something ruffle the maestro?”Alex grinned up at him from the couch, his bare feet tucked underneathhim, a pile of staff paper scattered about the floor and coffee table. He’d printedout a score for a new composition and managedto knock it off the printer tray. Of course,all the page numbers at the bottom of the sheets were cut off. Damn thing was at leastthirty pages andwould be a nightmare to organize.          “Nothing that can’t be managed.Unlike your score.” David raised an eyebrowand Alex saw the ghost of a grin on David’s face.“You could just reprint it, you know.”“What? And waste paper?”         “You’re stubborn,” David said as he picked up several of the pages and set them on the coffee table before joining Alex on the couch. When Alex said nothing,David leaned over and feathered several kisses over Alex’s neck. “Delightfully so, of course. But stubborn nonetheless.”           Alex sighed contentedly and pushed the rest of the music onto the floor. Fine. He’d reprintthe damn thing. Later. “Who was on the phone?” Sam and Aiden         “Aiden.” David spoke the name with his lips so close to Alex’s ear that Alex nearly gasped.David’s voice just did that to Alex—thatsexy baritone seemed to resonatethrough every part of his body. Alex was pretty sure David knew what it did to him too.“Aiden? I thought he and Sam were in Australia.”David pulled away and offered Alex a sardonic eyebrow. “Austria.” “Oh, come on!” Alex laughed. “You know I can hardly keep track of my own schedule. Now you expectme to keep up with his?”“Not even the correct continent.” David went back to kissing him. “What was he callingabout?” Anything to keep David focused on his neck. “The party in Connecticut is off. They’realso postponing the civil ceremony in New York for now.”         Alex shot up off the couch. “What?But we’ve been planning the receptionfor six months now! It’s only two weeks away. What the hell happened? Are they okay? I mean…. Shit. You know what Imean.”         David smiled—a strangeexpression for someone who’d just learnedthat he’d wasted four months arranging the party to celebrate Aiden and Sam’s wedding. Caterers, musicians, guests, and a dozen different schedules to coordinate.“Okay. Fess up. Why are you smiling?”         “Aiden and Sam are fine. They’re just postponing it.” David appearedentirely calm. Too calm. Happy, even?“Postponing? They’ve been doing that for two years now.” “Three.”          “Fine. Three years. So why are you happyabout it?” Alex pressed. Of course, David was yanking his chain, but he liked that. Anyone who thought David Somers didn’t have a sense of humor simply didn’t know him.         “I’m happy,” David said as his eyes brightened, “becausethere’s a good reason for it. In fact, there’sa wonderful reason for it.”Alex laughed. “What reason would that be?”“Who might bethe more appropriate way of say—”“David,” Alex warned.“Graziella MichaelaRedding.” “Graziella? You mean….”          “Mother and child doingquite well, I’m told.”David grinned outright this time.“Cary and Antonio’s baby?”         “Born last night. Almost five pounds. Threeweeks early but doing well.” David stood up and wrapped his arms around Alex’s waist. “A good reason to postpone a wedding, don’t you think?”          “The best.” Alex kissed David. “Shouldwe plan a visit in a few weeks?”          “A few weeks?” David’s sly grin made Alex chuckle.“Just because we can’t have the party to celebrate doesn’t mean we can’t take advantageof the opening in everyone’s schedules.” “What did you have inmind?”“Thanksgiving in Milan. It’s been years since we’ve been able to get everyone together.” Carey and Antonio“The villa?” David’s Italian villa was certainly large enough. “But—”“Is that a problemfor you? Last I looked at your schedule, your next performance is in Buenos Aires in three weeks.”David nipped at Alex's earlobe.“No… it’s not… ah…. Shit, David, I can’t think straightwhen you do that!” Alex shiveredand closed his eyes. “And no. No problem for me. But didn’t you give the staff at the villa the entire month off?”Alex knew David had completely forgotten about that particular detail. He frowned, then said blithely,“We’ll just have to do it ourselves. Jules and I can handlethe cooking. You and Jason can get the placed openedup. Rachel can help you with therooms.”“You’re serious about this?”“Am I ever not?” David pulled at Alex’s earlobe with his teeth. “I’ll call the travelagent and look into rebooking all the air travel.” Jules and Jason“Travel agent?”Another kiss, a nip, and then: “The travel agent. Too complicated to handle that much rebookingonline and you needn’ttrouble yourself with that. Just call Jules and Jason and let them know we’ll meet them in Milan on Saturday. I’ll text them the flightinformation as soon as I have it.”“Ah…. Okay. Sure. Jules and Jason.”Alex could handle that. He’d been meaning to call Jules to see how the Blue Notes album was coming along anyhow. He’d joined Jules and the other members of the trio on several of the tracks when he’d been in Paristhree weeks before.“Good.” David brushed his lips against Alex’s. “And one more thing.”“Hmm?” Focus, Bishop,focus!
“This.” David pushed Alex onto the couchand began to unbutton his shirt.“First things first. Always.” Buy Links:  Encore: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=4353&cPath=55_484Symphony in Blue: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=4479&cPath=55_484

Blue Notes Holiday 2013 Blog Tour stops:November 11th (release day – Encore):  Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words (Melanie Marshall)November 12th: Live Your Life, Buy the BookNovember 14th: Michael Rupured’s BlogNovember 15th: Joyfully Jay(Blue Notes Cover Art – Interviews with the Artists)November 18th: Elin Gregory’s blogNovember 22nd: Aisling Mancy’s blogNovember 26th: Andrew Q. Gordon’s blogDecember 6th: Oscar’s Bruised Petals(Sandra Garcia’s blog)December 10th: Brilliant Disguise (Tali Spencer’s blog)December 13th: Lily Sawyer's BlogDecember 16th: Rebecca Cohen’s blogDecember 20th: Purple Rose Teahouse (Charlie Cochet’s blog)December 23rd: Mrs. Condits and FriendsDecember 25th: Symphony in Blue Release Day Party at Melanie Marshall’s Scattered Thoughts and Rogue WordsDecember 26th: Book SuburbiaDecember 27th:  Helen Pattskyn’s blog
 ******
Again, a huge thank you to Shira for being here today!



Helen Pattskyn, Fantasy Artist, Gay Romance Author

Four intriquing questions about moi...

First off, I want to thank Aisling Mancy for tagging me. I had a blast answering four intriguing questions about moi  :)
What are you working on now?
It’s called A Place to Belong , and I’m currently at about 55k—definitely past the half-way point! (I’ve recently discovered that I write slower than I want to, so getting to 55K is an accomplishment I’m proud of.)
The idea started as a really simple one: a guy gets picked up in a bar by a much younger man for a one night stand and later on finds out that the younger man is a hustler, a street-level sex worker. To make matters more complicated, I decided that the man who gets picked up is an attorney with the County Prosecutor’s Office, specifically, the Family Court Division. Here in Oakland County, MI, that’s a part of the Criminal Court. (Most of what I write is set near where I live—research is *much* easier that way!)
Little by little, layers got added to both characters. Dillon (the attorney) lost his long-time partner to cancer a little over a year ago and hasn’t dated anyone since. Andy (the younger man) engages in self-injury. I took one of the incidents from his life from a page out of mine.
When I was a teenager, I took a job at a summer day-camp for kids (average, normal, suburban kids) and we had a young man—I think he was eight or nine—crawl into one of the big plastic trash bins we kept in the classroom. There wasn’t anything gross in it or anything, but when we asked him why he’d climbed in like that, we expected to hear something like he was playing a trick or playing hide and seek. Instead, he told us “because this is where the garbage belongs.” Talk about heartbreaking. Our boss called social services, but we never found out what happened. When I started building Andy’s backstory, I remembered that incident and started thinking about the kind of home where a kid would think something like that about himself.
How is your current WIP different from others in the genre?
I think I’m doing a pretty good job of avoiding some of the tropes or stereotypes associated with older, rich (ish) guy and poor young prostitute. Andy remarks several times that his life isn’t a movie and he sure as hell isn’t Julia Roberts.
Pretty Woman, beyond being unrealistic, glamorizes prostitution in a way that really bothers me. Street-level sex work isn’t the same thing as being an escort (call girl/rent boy). It’s a hard, extremely unglamorous life.
And remember I said Dillon was rich ISH right? He lives in a great condo in Royal Oak and has a good job, but he’s far from rich. As he tells Andy , yes, he has nice stuff but he also has a mortgage he can barely pay after losing his partner (and his partner’s income), student loans to pay off, and a stack of credit card bills.
No matter what I’m working on, I try to stay true to real life. Thankfully, I have some awesome friends who have let me pick their brains.
Why do you write?
I have all these stories in my head and they have to come out. Some are word stories, others are picture stories.
How does your writing process work?
Usually, it starts with a vague idea, like Hanging by the Moment. Man gets picked up at bar by hustler. Okay, who’s the man? What would be the worst job he could have to be in that situation? What about the kid? There’s more to him than being a prostitute. Where did he come from? What did he want to be when he grew up? What do these two have in common (because if I want an HEA, there has to be more than hot sex!)?
My first novel was inspired by a painting. I got a vague idea and started the same kind of line of “what if…?” questions.
Usually, my characters and story evolve as I write. I’ll get down the initial idea, 5000 to 10,000 words and then start creating official character bios, usually starting with “what astrological sign is this person?” Then I figure out how old they are, do the math, and zip over to astro.com to make a birth chart. Yes, seriously.  *G*  I’ll fiddle with the date/time a bit to get things that work and then use the rest to fill in some of the gaps of the character’s personality.
With Hanging by the Moment, I knew straight away that Dillon was a Capricorn like me. He likes rules and boxes and fences. Originally, I had And pegged as an Aries, but then I got to know him better and realized that he was a Virgo.
In case it isn’t obvious, I’m totally a pantster. I have some ideas of where things are going and how the *might* get there, but plotting it all out doesn’t work for me. Sometimes my characters say things or do things and it throws the entire plan out of whack. The most I do is jot down some notes so I don’t forget ideas that I have. Whether or not those ideas get used or not is up to my boys. Helen Pattskyn, Fantasy Artist, Gay Romance Author

The Writing Life: Speed

A recent discussion on one of the writers' groups I belong to has helped me put my writing life into perspective.  But let me start at the beginning. Several years ago, I was a happy little fanfiction writer cranking out a 2000 words a day. It was fun; it was easy. I got a lot of incredible feedback (for which I continue to remain grateful)  Along comes my first (published) novel and... well, things shifted. Due to a bunch of stuff happening (and not happening) in the rest of my life, I decided to do this writing thing full time. After all, I can write 2000 words a day, easy, right. Wrong.  For me, having deadlines (and bills that I have to pay with my writing) stressed me out Law & Order reruns. Which is fine for a day or two, but weeks on end? No, definitely not a good scene. (**It really is true that those who wait for inspiration rarely succeed--to be an author, you have to write pretty much every day. It doesn't have to be great, it just has to be words on the page. We all suffer from writers' block, but we find ways around it, whether that's working on another project, taking a day off--but only ONE--reading a book or, the best advice I've seen so far, going back to the last spot where you loved your story and working on it from there because writers' block might by your subconscious' way of telling you there's something wrong with how the story has progressed.) immeasurably. (I thought deadlines would give me focus--it works that way for a lot of people.) And of course the more stressed I got, the less I was able to write. Not just a matter of writers' block/not feeling inspired**, but genuine depression that at times made it hard for me to even get out of bed. All I wanted to do was get lost in a video game or
 After missing a bunch of deadlines, I finally emailed my (wonderful) publisher and asked her to take me off the calendar until I could get my head straight. She agreed that if deadlines don't work for me, I shouldn't try to push myself and that depression is truly nothing to fool around with. (As a matter of clarity, we're talking submission deadlines , not production deadlines. Publishers and editors are NOT going to be so forgiving after a work has been contracted--nor should they be.)  As for the depression, yes, I'm doing all the things I can to work through it rather than just sucking it up the way I was taught to do as a kid. (Grandma used to say that everybody had bad days and while that's true, sometimes it gets to be more than a person can handle on their own.)   But it's still hard when the Powers That Be (marketing type people) tell us that in order to succeed we should put out a book every six weeks and that the bigger of a back catalogue we have, the better our chances are of making a living writing. (I totally agree with the latter statement, by the way). It's even harder when I see some of my friends releasing two and three and four books while I'm still clacking away on my current WIP. I'm incredibly proud of those friends and absolutely thrilled for their success--and that's only partially altruistic. The faster Shira writes, the more gorgeous musicians and sexy mermen I get to read! Totally win-win in my book  *G*  So, that's the backstory. Writing is hard work. There's pressure to produce and while most of it comes from within, there is that electric bill that I have to pay. Then last week, one of the conversations on a writers' group thread meandered its way to how fast (or not) some of us write. I'd been feeling like I was the only one to be so pokey--but it turns out some of my favorite authors are in the same boat I am. One, maybe two books a year is all they can reasonably manage--trying to do more led to stress which led to lower productivity which led to stress and around it went. Just. Like. Me. I wasn't alone! Yeah, it's silly, but it was great to know I wasn't the only one (which means I cannot possibly be a failure--and yes, that's exactly what I was thinking.)  The bottom line came down to this: We each write at our own paceWriting isn't a raceIt isn't a competition, eitherStressed writers don't produce as much or as well; take the stress off yourself by concentrating on your own work and stop worrying about how many titles your friends are putting outThere are things we can do in between releases to make sure our readers don't forget about us That doesn't mean we shouldn't set goals and try to keep them, but our goals have to be realistic.  My goal is 2000 words a day, 6 days a week. I haven't been able to meet that goal very well, but I'm learning to be gentle with myself when I don't and to be happy when I get words down, period. There's a lot going on in my life right now and sometimes, it gets a little overwhelming. The trick is to not give up, to not let unobtained daily writing goals become so much of a discouragement that I give up all together (yes, it's crossed my mind), because in the long run THAT will be a much bigger disappointment than only writing 500 words today.   Yesterday, I wrote 3400 words (and I'm over the moon happy!) Besides this blog entry, I've got about 700 down already for today. I've got some other business type stuff to get to today (guest spots for other blogs, getting my newsletter finished), and yes, I'm feeling a little stressed because we have to get some bills sorted and holiday shopping to do. But I'm loving the direction my boys are going in and I want to finish their story, not just because it means (possibly) a contract but because I really *want* their happily ever after. Staying focused on the reasons I love to write is helping, especially when life gets a little overwhelming. Writing is still a job for me, but if I start to hate it, I might as well go back to waiting tables. Helen Pattskyn, Fantasy Artist, Gay Romance Author

Home for the Holidays Blog Hop

In 1954, Perry Como told us that there was no place like home for the holidays. It's a bit of a cliché I know, but this year the saying means more to me than ever.  Over the summer, our mortgage jumped and then things went a bit sour at my husband's job. We still have plenty of options and I know how lucky that makes us (and how grateful I am, believe me), but one thing is clear: we can't stay here long term. That realization would probably hit most people harder than it's hit us, me in particular, but the thing is that I've never really felt as if this house was my home.   When my husband and I started dating (you know, back before he was my husband), we each had a house. I loved mine, it was the home I'd grown up in. His house was a convenience. He moved in with his uncle when he got a job in this neighborhood and the two of them struck a deal for my husband to buy the place. Then I came along and we talked about it and made the logical choice. His house was 30 years younger than mine and mine needed a bunch of repairs. I sold my place and he put my name on his, making it ours.  There are few things I've regretted more in my life.  I was raised by my grandmother; she'd owned the house I grew up in since before I was born. Although there's no love lost between my mother and I, I slept in the same bed my mother did as a child. I knew ever pop and ping of the furnace, every squeaky floor board--and yes, every drafty window and just where to put the pots and pans to catch the rain leaking through the roof as soon as it started to storm. I knew exactly how to cool it down in summer because unlike this place, it didn't have central air.  I knew just how many things I could plug into any given outlet before a fuse blew and right where the fuse box was. Several of the neighbors had lived there since I was a little kid.  The house I'm living in now is okay. I have a great yard and fantastic neighbors. It's quiet and I've got a park right across the street. But I've never been entirely happy here. I can count off the things I don't like about it, but the real problem is that when I dream about being at home, even if it's my life now with my husband and seventeen year old daughter, we're never living here. We're living in the house I grew up in because that's "home" in my heart. I know we won't actually be able to move there (it's not even on the market), but I'm looking at the fact that we have to move as a chance to find a place that can be my home.   The ironic thing is that there's an ongoing theme in my stories. It started with Heart's Home. The title says it all: they're looking for home. The boys in my other books are looking for home, too. They're looking for the place that they belong. (And yes, that's a shameless plug for my WiP, A Place to Belong ;-) This time of year especially, I think people long for home. For me, home is my grandmother's walnut ball cookies (she only made them at Christmas) and cup of coffee (although I'll skip the instant that she used to drink and make some in my coffee press). It's her chicken soup (my husband can tell how well it didn't go over when he altered the recipe!) It's kalopchee (cabbage rolls). Home is fresh tomatoes picked from the vine at my Aunt Mary's house and my uncle's gruff voice. It's the happy, safe feeling of waking up with the sun on my face the world's ugliest floral sheets under my nose. (They would have been right at home in the Brady house).  Home is feeling.  I'd love to hear what makes your house feel like home, especially around this time of year. For me, I can recapture that feeling of home by baking walnut ball cookies from memory, putting in the Nutcracker on DVD (the old, old, old one with Mikhail Baryshnikov that I used to watch every year when it came on PBS) and decorating the tree with my husband and daughter. I've got just a very few ornaments left from when I was a kid but they're far and away my favorites).   Leave a comment below and I'll pick one winner to receive a signed copy of any one of my books. (International entries are always welcome.) If you want to check out the titles, you can click on the links above for Heart's Home, Bound: Forget Me Knot, or Hanging by the Moment.  I'd also like to invite you to sign up for my newsletter. It comes out once a month (along with occasional special announcements) and most months I give away something to one of my readers.  Don't forget to click on the button below to get back to the hop.



Helen Pattskyn, Fantasy Artist, Gay Romance Author

Rainbow Book Awards!

I just found out my novel  Bond: Forget Me Knot  placed in the 2013  Rainbow Book Awards , under best of illustrated covers. A HUGE thank you and hearty CONGRATULATIONS to my awesome, wonderful, sweet and super talented cover artist Shobana Appavu ! 
You TOTALLY rock!  
I met Bob (Shobana) a couple of years ago at a Dreamspinner conference, and talked to her about doing the cover for Bound, which had then just been contracted (I learned that weekend that it was going to be accepted for publication--nothing like going to ask your publisher a question and having her say "by the way, the contract for your book is in my mailbox, I just didn't get a chance to get it out before getting on a plane to come here." )
Over the next few weeks, Bob and I shot emails back and forth and she showed me a few photos that might serve as references. I was glad she had some ideas, because I had no idea what I wanted. I'm an artist and a very visual person, but I swear, when it comes to my writing, I'm usually in the dark. Thank goodness for the awesome art department at DSP! 
As soon as I saw the rough draft, I fell in love. She'd captured Jason and Henry so beautifully. 
I am so absolutely thrilled Bound won an award for the cover--so again, congrats to Bob and to all of the other Rainbow Award winners! 
To celebrate, because they are TOTALLY AWESOME, Dreampsinner Press has put all of their Rainbow Award Winner books on sale from now until December 15th (ebooks only). Maybe it's time to do a little holiday shopping for yourself...or your favorite little m/m loving elves.  ;-) Click here to get to the sale page.

Helen Pattskyn, Fantasy Artist, Gay Romance Author

World AIDS Day Detroit & the Solstice Blog Hop

Well there's an interesting blog title  :)  What it boils down to is that, as usual, I'm busy today! This morning, I helped out at the Detroit's World AIDS Day breakfast, at the fabulously beautiful Filmore Theatre. I *think* I may have been there once before, a million years ago, for a concert (we're talking back in the 1980's--you know, when dinosaurs roamed the earth  *grin*) It was a spectacular event, a chance to look back at how far we've come and to look forward to a goal--a real, obtainable goal--of zero new infections, zero deaths, and zero stigma. Stigma is one of the biggest issues facing people living with HIV--and it's one of the reasons so many people don't get tested. The only way to get rid of the stigma attached to HIV is through conversation, education, and of course compassion.  One of the headings for today's event read 100% Love, 0% Hate. I think that's something we can all agree on. And the big message of the day was to keep the conversations going. Talk about HIV. What it is. What it isn't. The misconceptions--misinformation--that is still floating around out there about HIV and AIDS is staggering. But if we keep having conversations, if we keep educating people, we really can see zero in our lifetime.  All right.  Some of you are no doubt here for the Pagan Writer's Press Solstice Blog Hop. Welcome!!   Chances are pretty good that if you're here from the Pagan Writer's site, you don't know me and maybe you're wondering why a writer of sexy gay romance is participating. The simple answer is that I'm Pagan and just as out of that closet as I am out of the other closets in my life  ;-)  I feel the same way about being Pagan as I do about being bisexual and supporting HIV awareness--the more conversations we can have with people to educate them about who we are, the better. Sometimes, that just means being open and out and letting people judge us by the way we live our lives.  I've always loved the winter holiday; when I was younger, that meant Christmas, although to be honest, not much has changed since my childhood Christmas celebrations and my adult Solstice celebrations (except for the whole 4 fewer shopping days, which totally bites! My daughter, on the other hand, loves getting her gifts four days sooner than any of her friends. When she was little we just explained that Santa visits Pagan children on Yule and Christian children on Christmas, but we still exchange our gifts on Yule, then a  few days later visit with my husband's family for Christmas Eve).   As a writer, I've (completely unintentionally) written two stories around the winter holidays. My first book Heart's Home* , which I'm offering a signed copy of to one person who comments below, begins in the autumn of 1889 and ends with a prologue around the Christmas tree--despite the fact that one of the boys is a confirmed atheist and the other is essentially a Pagan. (I never spell it out, but he prays to his Mother Moon and practices a shamanic sort of magic that's only exaggerated a little bit for the sake of fiction). One of the other characters in that story is a demon in the strictest Christian sense of the word--but he's not a bad sort. He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time when the whole Fall took place and got swept up on the losing side of things.  I enjoy exploring religion when I write. I think regardless of what religion a person follows, it's an important part of the human experience--and for the sake of simplicity, I'm lumping atheism in with religion even thought it's really a lack thereof. The philosophy and/or science that replaces religion is just as important to an atheist as my belief in my Gods is to me.  *Heart's Home took second place in the Ancient City Romance Author's Heart of Excellence Awards; it's an historical, paranormal, and decidedly steamy romance (i.e., there are sexually explicit encounters spelled out on the page). If you'd like the chance to win a copy, leave a comment below; make sure to leave me a way to get in touch with you. To read an excerpt and find out a little bit more about the story, click here.
To get back to the blog hop, follow this link:
http://new.inlinkz.com/luwpview.php?id=341550Helen Pattskyn, Fantasy Artist, Gay Romance Author

Do you remember the first time you heard of HIV or AIDS?&...

Do you remember the first time you heard of HIV or AIDS? 
Depending on how old you are, it might be something that's been around all your life--or at least all of your "conscious" life (I don't know about you, but before I was 10 or 12, I was fairly ignorant of the goings-on of the world--although that may have changed some since then, too.) 
I was in middle school when they started talking to us about AIDS. (They being teachers; my family didn't talk about things that were unpleasant if they could help it--at least not with me)  I remember watching An Early Frost on television in 1985 because I adored Aiden Quinn. From that, I got that contracting AIDS meant getting sick and dying, and that it had something to do with being gay. (It's been a very long time since I've seen the movie, so I'm not sure if that was the real message, but it was the message that I remember.)  I remember being in the 9th grade and a friend of mine doing a report on AIDS for some class or another; from him I learned that it had come from Africa and had something to do with primates, that somehow the disease had crossed over from the primate population to the human population and that at the time, they thought it had something to do with someone consuming infected primate meat/organs. 
I remember several of friends coming out to me in high school and just after, and going to the bars with them; I remember being afraid that someday someone I knew and loved would contract AIDS and die, because even then, the only real treatment was AZT--it was better than nothing, but it wasn't anything compared to what's available today. Getting AIDS still seemed to mean being handed a death sentence. 
I remember when Freddie Mercury died of complications relating to AIDS. 
Fast forward 20 years. It's 2012 and I Daniel, from my third book Hanging by the Moment announces to me in that way that characters do, that he's HIV positive. For the last 20 years, HIV and AIDS have sort of faded into the background of my consciousness. It's gone from something I'm terrified of to something I'm simply aware of. It's another STI--admittedly, it's the worst, but it's easily preventable and doctors and scientists are making strides everyday, coming up with better treatments, coming closer to a vaccine, and possibly even a cure. Most young people treat HIV like it's "nothing"--even some older (my age) educated people liken it to diabetes. Incurable, but manageable. I don't necessarily agree (I don't agree at all, in fact), but in the face of everything else going on in the world, AIDS isn't something that's on my brain very often. 
Then Daniel came along. 
I've already spoken at length about my research into HIV and AIDS and all of the things that shocked me--but biggest of all is the fact that people are still contracting HIV. Second largest is the fact that there is still so much misconception about HIV and AIDS. Since I started volunteering for AIDS Partnership Michigan, I've fielded a lot of hotline calls from men and women who have absolutely no idea how HIV is transmitted or prevented. (Which is probably WHY people are still contracting HIV).
 I'd like to challenge everyone, today especially, to commit to some kind of outreach/education. It doesn't have to be a huge effort. Talk to a teenager about safe sex. Be an open, safe sounding board for a young adult. Wear a red ribbon and don't be afraid to say why when someone asks. Be as open as your situation allows about your own sexuality/gender orientation. Within your means, support AIDS/HIV charity. Most programs welcome volunteers--it doesn't cost you anything but some time, but the service is invaluable. If there isn't an HIV specific program near you, how about a program that works with at-risk youth? Did you know that LGBT kids make up the bulk of homeless youth on the street? Most were kicked out of their homes over their gender identity or sexual orientation. 
In the comments below, I'd love to hear when you first heard about AIDS or HIV. Everyone who comments will be entered to win an HIV awareness tote bag (retail value $15). I'll pick the winner on the 5th. (Please be sure to leave me a way to contact you if you win). Helen Pattskyn, Fantasy Artist, Gay Romance Author

Writing is hard

Or rather, perhaps I should say that staying focused enough to finish something is hard. For me, that something is almost always going to be a novel; I really don't have the mental hardwiring to do short very well or very often. But even if you're a short story writer, you'll have to spend as much time doing it--if you want to be successful--as a novelist. Being a writer (assuming you have dreams of publication), means writing every day--or nearly so. It means missing out on your favorite TV show (thank goodness for DVR), and saying to your friends, when they invite you out, "no thanks, I have to get some work done on my novel." If you're lucky enough to already have a book or two out, chances are better that they'll take you seriously than if you haven't gotten that first book published, yet. Until you're holding that first contract in your hand, writing may very well be perceived as a hobby, or worse, a passing fancy.  You know, as if it wasn't hard enough for you to carve out the time to sit down and work, already.   For me, the hardest part is finding the peace and quiet, and the motivation all at the same time. Usually I have one but not the other. The fact that I have a forty pound hairless lap dog probably doesn't help. If I try to go into my office to work, he whines at the door until I let him in. Once in, he gives me those sad brown eyes as he looks wistfully at my lap. Just to make me feel guilty, he starts to shiver. I've started using my office for storage and writing in the big comfy chair in the family room, where there's room for two--three if you count my laptop--and cover him up.  And today, since he's still in bed with "Dad" (my hubby), the cat has decided to take his place with me in the chair. Seriously, there's no peace for the wicked around here  ;-) I'm just grateful that I have a supportive family who understands, especially my husband and

daughter who were behind my writing even before I got my first contract. They didn't care if I was doing it for money (*no* author I know actually does this for the money, although trust me, we love you for buying our books!), or for fun (i.e. penning thousands of words of fanfiction every week), they just knew it was something I enjoyed and made sure I had the time and relative peace to do it.
 Not everyone is so lucky. I would never suggest to anyone to make their spouses' refusal to support their writing a reason for divorce--but it might be a reason to examine what other areas your family isn't being supportive. (And there's certainly room for compromise; my husband is absolutely wonderful which means that sometimes I do tear myself away from the keyboard so we can watch TV together or go to a movie. It's only fair, since he doesn't grumble when I take my laptop with me on vacation and spend at least an hour or two holed up somewhere writing).  Some years ago--on the very weekend that I got the flash of inspiration that turned into Heat's Home, in fact, I attended a great talk at a convention about living the creative life. The things the presenter said really hit home.  Being a professional artist--whether that means being a painter, a sculptor, a musician, a writer, an actor, or any other creative endeavor--is hard work. If you can make your living any other way, DO IT.   That was very difficult to hear, but the more I thought about it, the more I agreed. This job is far more rewarding, but far, far harder than any other job I've ever done. I don't just punch a clock and go home. I don't just work eight hours a day. Some day, when the Muse is feeling stubborn or uncooperative, all I have to show for my work is a couple of hundred words. It's frustrating. It's even more frustrating when I realize that this is how I make my living, and if I don't write, the bills don't get paid. (Thankfully, my husband is gainfully employed, but really, we need two incomes to make our lives work. That's just one reason why we're looking at moving out of the 3 bedroom house in the suburbs and into a 2 bedroom apartment.)   Being a professional artist may mean making some hard choices. Like I said, we're looking at moving out of our house and into an apartment. It's not just about the mortgage payment (although that's definitely a factor, suburbia is NOT cheap), it's about me not having the time to spend on the yard and the yard...well, I'm surprised it took the neighbors as long as it did to complain  ;-)  I'll pot up some of my plants to take with us when we go, a patio is a necessity, but I can't afford to spend 4-6 hours in the garden every day during the summer. Spring clean up takes considerably longer.  Being a professional artist may mean letting some friendships go. My ex husband said once
that I would never get a book published, I wasn't good enough. This might have been an honest critique if he'd ever read anything I wrote. He hadn't--and his comment wasn't the reason for our divorce, but it was indicative of a long history of problems. So if you've got someone in your life who tears you down rather than being supportive (and yes, sometimes that means telling you honestly that you need to take a class or find a mentor to help you hone your craft), it may be time to examine the friendship more closely. And yeah, it can hurt, especially if the person is a family member. There are all kinds of reasons for people to act like this. Some people are simply threatened by others' success (I'm pretty sure my ex was threatened by anything I did outside the home.)

There's some good news, though: You'll make new friends. Seriously, one of the best parts of getting my first book out there has been the wonderful people I've met and the friendships I've developed.  Artists understand each other. Other writers don't think you're being rude when you pull out your laptop to get in a little writing before dinner and they think about calling Bellevue when you start talking about how your characters are taking over the story, refusing to do what you want them to.  They pour you a cup of tea or a glass of wine and commiserate.   So yes, being a writer is hard. Finding the time and the focus to put the words on the page is hard. Juggling with friends and family and making tough choices...well, they call them "tough" choices for a reason. But in the end, if this is really want you want to do, it's worth it. Not for the money, not for the fame, but for the sheer satisfaction of doing what you love most--the one thing you can't live without doing. Writing. Art. Dance. Theatre. Whatever your passion is, if it is truly your passion, grab on, don't let go, don't give up. Don't turn back.  Helen Pattskyn, Fantasy Artist, Gay Romance Author

Welcome Bru Baker

First, let me take a moment to say welcome and thank you to Bru Baker for being here today! It’s always a pleasure to have guests in the hot seat…erm, I mean interview chair.
Why don’t you start out by introducing yourself (where you call home, how long you’ve been writing, etc.)?
Thanks for having me, Helen. I'm a newbie on the promotion circuit, so it's both thrilling and terrifying to be here! Home base for me is Indianapolis, Indiana, where I live with my kids and my husband. I'm a freelance journalist by day now, but before that I managed a small newspaper. I quit the newsroom because of the 60-hour weeks, but I have to admit that working for myself isn't much better. I'm a pretty bad boss, though I do let myself work in pajamas, so that's one bonus.
I have several shorts and novellas out, but Island House is my first novel. It was my 2010 NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) manuscript, so seeing it completed and published is really exciting. That was the first year I'd participated in NaNo, and I've done it every year since. It's really a great motivator to get words on the page. I also participated in Camp NaNo this summer, which is an abbreviated version of the challenge. That netted me a Christmas-themed novella that's coming out in December 2014, so all in all NaNoWriMo has been very productive for me.
 

How long have you been writing?
My first published piece of fiction came out a year ago, but I've been a writer much longer than that. I'm a journalist by trade, so the writing I did for the majority of my career is a lot different from what I'm doing now. I have to say, writing about hunky guys and steamy romance is a lot more fun than reporting on bank robberies, house fires, and city council meetings. It's also nice not to have to have a “go bag” in my trunk with things like heavy boots and insulated gloves for those interstate pile-ups and other outdoor emergencies that I'd have to go cover during the freezing Indiana winters. I definitely don't miss that part of working in a newsroom.
I'm still a journalist by day, but now I'm freelancing so most of my assignments are features and I get to work from home. My goal is to transition to full-time fiction, and I'm getting a little closer to that with every new release.
Please tell us three things about yourself that you think would surprise people/that most people don’t know.
1. When I learned my colors I switched orange and purple, and to this day my first instinct is always wrong when naming them. I'm pretty self-conscious about it and will avoid naming those colors out loud whenever possible.

2. I'm an extreme introvert, which surprises a lot of people. My comfort zone is being home with a cup of coffee and my kiddos. Anything that takes me outside of that (read: EVERYTHING!) is a challenge for me. I'm genuinely friendly, but putting myself out there is hard for me. I love meeting people, but after a convention or big gathering I need a week to myself to process and recenter.
3. My father was a chef and I inherited a love of cooking from him. I rarely, if ever, am able to completely follow a recipe because I'm constantly subbing ingredients or changing the spices in it because I think they'd work better. I blame that on my dad—his approached the kitchen as more of a mad scientist than a cook, so no two dishes were ever the same because he was always experimenting. I'm working on a novel that features chefs as the main characters and I have fun testing out dishes for the book on my family. (They're having considerably less fun with this, especially since one of the chefs in the book loves molecular gastronomy. Those dishes don't tend to go over so well with the preschooler and the first grader...)
 
I’m a total introvert to, so I totally get what you mean. Most people assume that introvert means shy, and that’s so not true. We can get out, meet people—then we need to go hide for a while and re-charge.
 
There’s some controversy about women who write M/M? Do you have any thoughts on the subject you want to share?
One of the most common reactions when I tell people what I write is: “How?!” And I admit that there are times that I have to research how Tab A fits into Slot B, but that's what the Internet is for, right? I don't think my sister has recovered from my answer of “Xtube” when she asked how I could possibly write about something I'd never experienced. She's probably still blushing.                           

In all seriousness, I do think it's possible for a woman to write credible M/M. No, I'm not a man. I don't have firsthand knowledge of what it feels like to be one. But much of my writing focuses on the mechanics of relationships and the emotions involved, and I'm a firm believer that those experiences are universal. I do try hard not to feminize my characters, but that doesn't mean that men don't have the same fears, doubts, and joys that women do in a relationship. Sometimes it might be a challenge to show those in a believable way, but in the end that makes for a better story.
 
 “They” tell us that writers should write what they know—do you think that’s true? Why/why not?
One of my favorite parts of the writing process is research, so I'd say no to that. I think it's possible to research something thoroughly enough that you can put your character into that situation or role. A pivotal scene in Island House happens on Niall's boat as it hunkers down at sea during a hurricane, but aside from a few memorable experiences driving a pontoon on a lake as a kid, I've never piloted a boat. I'd say I've never been through a hurricane, either, but a few years ago one actually made it all the way here to Indiana still classed as a Category 1. I'm not sure that counts, though!
Pantster or plotter? Why?
I'm a pantser by nature, but I'm trying hard to mold myself into a plotter. I've plotted out two spin-offs to Island House and I'm moving forward with them with tentative approval from the publisher, so it's a new experience for me. We'll see how closely I'm able to stick to those approved plot lines.
A lot of authors write short stories as well as novels/novellas. What’s the difference for you, as an author between writing a piece that’s under 20,000 and one that’s 30,000 or more?
I can sit down and write 10,000 to 20,000 words pretty easily, but once a piece crosses that line it gets a lot more complicated. Suddenly I'm juggling several plot arcs and really flushing the characters out, which takes a lot more attention to detail. To me, writing a short story or a short novella is a lark, but writing a novel is work. It's the difference between a vacation romance and a committed relationship. When I write a novella I usually stay in that blissfully easy bloom of early infatuation with the piece. With a novel, it's more like being married to the project—before long I start to notice that it leaves its dirty socks under the bed and chews with its mouth open.
 
How much of your real life experiences go into your writing? Where does your inspiration usually come from? Ever based a character on a real person (friend or enemy?)
I've never based a character on a real person, but a lot of personal quirks and experiences get worked in. One of the main characters in my novella The Buyout is a computer programmer, and there's a lot of similarity there between him and my husband, who's a programmer in real life. My husband is a good sport about it, but I think he got pretty tired of me trying out geeky pick-up lines on him to make sure they made sense. The end result was worth it—the IM conversations in The Buyout were probably my favorite pieces of dialog in any of my works. They were a blast to write.
 
Do you listen to music while you write, prefer absolute silence, run off to the coffee shop…? If you do listen to music, can you name a few songs off your playlist?
I have a four year old and a seven year old, so if I had to have absolute silence to write I'd never get anything done. I've gotten pretty good at tuning out their bickering and getting words in. (In fact, they're sitting in my office whining right now!) I do tend to listen to music, but I'm not picky. I know some authors make soundtracks for each piece they write to capture the characters' emotions, but I prefer to just listen to whatever album has caught my admittedly fickle fancy. Right now I'm obsessed with Rogue Wave, a band out of Oakland. That's on heavy rotation at the moment alongside favorite bands like Imagine Dragons, Sea Wolf, and Foster the People. And the Pitch Perfectsoundtrack because, like I said, my musical taste is pretty fickle. As long as it's not country, I'm happy listening to it. 
What television shows are you currently watching?
Do Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood and The Power Rangers count? Those are my kids' current favorites. I don't get a chance to watch much television on my own because I spend most of my free time writing. When I do watch something I tend to mainline it by marathoning entire seasons on Netflix. I'm not very good at moderation. I'll usually reward myself for meeting a publication deadline by watching a season of something. I just finished the first few seasons of The Vampire Diaries and I've started Breaking Bad.
LOL--your kids' shows totally count. When mine was *much* younger, the only thing I knew about "current tv shows" was Little Bear and Rupert *G*. 
 
What’s next on the horizon for you? WIPs, writing goals, personal goals…? 
I'm doing NaNoWriMo right now, so hopefully I'll have a big portion of my next novel draft done by the end of the month. I have a pretty rigorous schedule set for myself in terms of my WIPs and I'm hoping I can stay on it. I'd really love to wrap up the two Island House spin-offs before I tackle a new project, but my brain has taken that as a challenge to feed me as many new novel ideas as possible. It always seems to be feast or famine for me in terms of creativity. If everything goes according to schedule, I should have both novels out in 2014. Fingers crossed!   Unable to move on after the death of his lover, British expat Niall Ahern clings to Nolan's dream of living in the Caribbean by moving to Tortola. Once there, he finds that not even the beauty of the island can fill the hole in his heart. Broke and spent in nearly every way imaginable, Niall wants out of the lonely, miserable, guilt-ridden life he's carved out for himself.

When Ethan Bettencourt, a wealthy tech guru, shows up in British Virgin Islands looking to purchase a second home, he gives Niall hope that he can move on. Both men fall hard and fast, but Niall finds piloting his yacht in the midst of a hurricane is nothing compared to weathering life's simple misunderstandings. As their troubles come between them, Niall is left to wonder if he and Ethan are over before they've begun.
 You can read an excerpt here  and don't forget to visit her on her own blog, here.    Helen Pattskyn, Fantasy Artist, Gay Romance Author