Erica Pike's Blog, page 12

February 2012 Recap

February 2012:

I started the month setting up reading goals...which crashed an burned spectacularly! What can I say? I was busy with edits.
I was also busy expanding on my m/m-only blog hop idea. Originally, it was only supposed to be a giveaway of m/m books only (since I'd taken part in many blog hops where I'd had to wade through m/f books to find the few m/m books to sign up for). However, once I read about the International Day Against Homophobia, the goals changed, and my friend K-Lee Klein came up with the name Hop Against Homophobia. N.J. Nielsen was also a part in the organizing. The goals were now "to help create awareness against homophobia and to stand together as an m/m genre (authors, publishers, reviewers AND readers) to try to help the world see gay fiction as first class literature, not second class." We felt it was important to stand together as a community of m/m because RWA had grossly discriminated against m/m by excluding same-sex stories from a contest of theirs.
February 17th was a release day! Some readers didn't seem as keen on Grade-A-Sex Deal as they were on Hot Hands, mainly because of the subject (teacher-student relationship) and the darker theme of the story. However, there were a number of "I didn't think I'd like this story because of the subject, but...".
Paypal started censoring books and I felt they were sniffing around way too close to m/m, which only reinforced my determination to make Hop Against Homophobia a success. I didn't want m/m books to be pushed under a dirty carpet as some form of indecency! These were great books that had to be seen. So now, the HAH team didn't want to make a splash anymore, we wanted to make a tsunami.

The Polls are In!

Thanks to everyone who voted on my polls. Someone pointed out to me that should work on the manuscript that doesn't let me sleep at night, but the problem is that ALL the manuscripts are doing exactly that. It was overwhelming, so I was unable to do anything at all. That's why I decided to do a poll and it's been a very nice kick int he butt. 
Combined with the poll numbers from my Goodreads Group (feel free to join!), here's how things stand:
Black Hurricane: 18 votes (44%)When the World Ended: 11 votes (27%)And Then He Turned: 6 votes (15%)Ghost in the Wind: 5 votes (12%)Boston Boys Halloween: 1 votes (2%)
Your book wasn't the top one? Fret not! I've been working on Black Hurricane for the past three days and it's nearing completion! I'll start on the next project very soon ^.^
That said, I'm very happy to see such an interest in the post-apoc story. 

Heartbreaker Hop Winner

I've used random.org to draw a winner for the Heartbreaker Hop. The winner will receive a choice of an ebook copy of A Life Without You or Absolutely Eric.
The winner is: Amber! (VampedChik).
Congrats ^.^ I'll send you an email shortly.
Thanks to everyone who participated.

Saturday Seductive Studs: Adam 2

I'm devoting February's SSS to Adam Maxwell from A Life Without You (with guest appearances in Absolutely Eric). Here's last Saturday's entry, and here's today's.
This snippet is also from A Life Without You. Adam is listening to Jesse talk on the phone with his girlfriend (who Adam calls Chirpy, because of her high and loud voice). Here we can see that he's studying English at the college, and does extra work for the student newspaper. His ambition is to become an editor. He's also pretty tough on the outside, but quite insecure on the inside at this point in the story:
I try to concentrate on my literary assignment, but that annoying chirpy sound is breaking my focus. With a sigh I push it away and pull out the articles that go into this month's student newspaper. I get extra credits for proofreading. More importantly, I like editing and would like to make a career out of it, so this will look good on my resume. But trying to focus on the coverage of last night‘s basketball game is hard. I didn't go since Jesse wasn't playing.It's been three days since that morning he found out I was gay. He hasn't said a word about any of it. I think I've ruined the easy-going friendship of ours, because his whole attitude is different – formal instead of the carefree joking and teasing. He spends a lot of time studying in the library, and when he's not studying he's watching sports in the living room with some of the other guys. My stomach knots up whenever we're in the same room because I want to fix this, but I don't know how.
The book is available from most online retailers ($6.99). Here are direct links to a few: MLR Press, All Romance eBooks, Amazon, Barnes & Noble. It's also available in paperback from Amazon and B&N ($12.99).
Please visit the Saturday Seductive Studs headquarters to find the other authors sharing snippets from their own works ^.^ 
Until next Saturday!

Heartbreaker Blog Hop

It's hop time! About time, too. Feels like it's been forever since the last one. I'm keeping this short, because I know you have other places to visit, so I'm doing this in bulletin points after my little Heartbreaker info.
Heartbreakers. I wouldn't go near them in real life, but I do like to read about them in books and see them on TV. The problem with these people in real life is that they usually know how good they look and are too focused on it, which means they're often conceited and I don't care for such individuals. Nothing wrong with being pretty and knowing it, but to use it to toy with other people's feelings isn't very nice ;) 
My Contest:- Leave a comment with your email address to win one of the following books below.- If you want to take part in MY contest, please also vote on the poll to the right (what book should I write next?) - either do this here on my blog or in my Goodreads Group.- Winner will be chosen randomly.- If you're only here for the grand prize, please say so in your comment so m/m lovers have more chance of winning my prize.
The Grand Prizes:1st Grand Prize: A Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet2nd Grand Prize: A $100 Amazon or B&N Gift Card3rd Grand Prize: A Swag Pack that contains paperbacks, ebooks, 50+ bookmarks, cover flats, magnets, pens, coffee cozies, and more!. - The more blogs you comment on the greater are your chances of winning one of the grand prizes (everything but the SWAG pack is international)
Interested in my works?- Here's a link to my free reads, Half-Baked Promises and In His Pocket.- I just started a Goodreads group called Gay Romance by Erica Pike. Feel free to join.- Other ways to follow me:NewsletterFacebookBlog Follow (buttons to the right)TwitterGoodreads- You don't have to follow me anywhere to take part in my contest. These are optional.
One of these is up for grabs (or if you already have them we can work out something else):
Adam's in love with this straight roommate. Eric dumped Mr. Right for Mr. Wrong. Now he wants Mr. Right back.

Blitz & Glitz: College Fun and Gays

It's my very first Book Blitz. I had no idea what that meant until recently. It's basically a day where my books are being promoted by a number of sites ^.^ No Boundaries Press organized and paid for this whole thing for their authors - so, thank you NBP!
Here's where my books are being blitz'ed (with blurbs and excerpts):
Book Reviews and More by Kathy (also did a review of The Walls Have Ears and Little Stalker)You Gotta Read ReviewsBooks AmourBooks N KissesMelissa StevensLove to Read for FunDecadent Decisions (post not up yet)Harlie's Books
Most of these aren't M/M hangouts (Kathy's is, but I don't think the others are), so let's hope we can drag in some new curious readers to our genre, yes? ^.^ 

January 2012 Recap

I was going to post this in January, but it's February now! I'm officially one years old as an author. January 3rd was the official day of my one year - January 4th if we're talking about non-free fiction. In the monthly rundown, I'll be going over what happened in 2012 and linking to a few interesting posts from 2012.
January:
I decided to gamble on a new publisher, No Boundaries Press, so they share my anniversary of one year. They kicked off by publishing a few free stories, including my In His Pocket, on January 3rd. In His Pocket has held the nr. 1 spot on the most downloaded titles on NBP since that day. 

The first ever non-free story published by NBP was Hot Hands, on January 4th. It has also been on their top 10 bestseller list since then and also became an ARe bestseller.
My first novel was released on January 13th through MLR Press, A Life Without You. It was well received, getting twelve 4+ reviews from book blogger sites (four of which were 5 stars), and became an ARe bestseller.
I spent rest of the month in revisions for my upcoming works, making beginner's mistake in marketing, and getting my m/m-only blog hop brainchild started. What an exciting month!

Saturday Seductive Studs: Adam 1

I'm taking part in the Saturday Seductive Studs, where I'll be posting a max 200-word snippet from my books. I've decided to dedicate each month to a character, except for the short stories where I'll be dedicating each month to a story.

Last month, A Life Without You had its first year anniversary, so I'm dedicating this month to Adam Maxwell. I hope to share a bit of his character through these snippets. 
This one is from A Life Without You. Adam has just given Jesse a nasty scare with his humor, and came out to him as well in a very unusual way. Jesse's still deep in the closet and in denial in this first chapter of the story. Adam's humor is pretty crude, sarcastic, even:

“What, I see yours all the time but you can‘t see mine? That‘s a little unfair, isn't it?” I say in a calm voice that, in no way, mirrors my aching guts. I‘m scared shitless that he‘ll leave. This was not how I was going to reveal my sexuality to him.
“Pants,” he repeats.
I lift my hands in defeat. “All right, all right.”
I put on a pair of blue boxer briefs and help him up. I have to put my arm around his back to lift him because his injury is causing him so much pain, but the firm press of his shoulder blades against my chest sends a jolt down my underwear and my dick does a little throb.
“Dude! Don‘t stand so close to me,” Jesse shouts, trying not to let his lower back touch my front. As a result there is no way he can shield himself when the sheet rolls off his body and pools around his feet. I see that his penis is still erect. He sees it, too.
“Morning wood. Don‘t get any ideas,” he groans out while we make our way to our en suite bathroom.

You can read the entire excerpt here. The book is available from most online retailers ($6.99). Here are direct links to a few: MLR Press, All Romance eBooks, Amazon, Barnes & Noble. It's also available in paperback from Amazon and B&N ($12.99).

Please visit the Saturday Seductive Studs headquarters to find the other authors sharing snippets from their own works ^.^ 
Until next Saturday!

'Why Straight Women Love Gay Romance' Reviewed at Lambda

Geoffrey Knight's book Why Straight Women Love Gay Romance was reviewed at Lambda Literary. What has that got to do with me? Well, I was one of the 32 interviewed for the content of that book and I  want that book to succeed (which it already has!). I also met Geoff at GRL (his room was next to mine) and found him to be a true gem. Funny, outgoing and nice. Anyway, it's a very interesting review that focuses on some of the issues discussed in the book. I'm even quoted!

A Chance to Get a College Fun and Gays Book

Hi guys :)
I know I just did a giveaway, but this one's a different sort. My publisher, No Boundaries Press, is having a giveaway. You need to have a facebook account to enter. Here's the very simple thing you have to do:
"Get entered to win an NBP book of choice: Simply reply to THIS post and tell us who invited you. That's all...simple. We'll pick a winner on Wednesday January 16, 2013."
NBP published my College Fun and Gays works: Hot Hands, Grade-A-Sex Deal, The Walls Have Ears and Little Stalker.