Erica Pike's Blog, page 15

Year End Splash Party: I'm Up!

Hi guys :)
My Q&A is up tomorrow (Nov. 23rd) at the Romance Review's Year End Splash (YES!) 2012 Party. What does that mean? It means that you can get two extra points in the fun memory game (with covers) if you answer correctly. 
These are fun, quick challenges, where the grand prizes are $100, $70, and $50 gift certificates (and tons and tons of other prizes - an e-copy of Absolutely Eric included). 
So go, play, have fun ^.^

Over 70 M/M Books Donated

Hi guys :)
Yesterday, my cousin Þóra and I went to the LGBT center in Iceland and delivered the 63 books we brought back from GRL 2012. 63 books!! With the books that have been sent directly from authors and the ones on the way, there will be over 70 new m/m books at the library before Christmas.
What am I talking about here? Earlier this year I did a donation call to my fellow m/m writers to ask if some would be willing to donate a print book for the LGBT-exclusive library at the center. It's a fairly large library considering that it only contains LGBT titles. They have non-fics, magazines, yaoi, DVD's, articles....and a very old fiction section. They haven't had money for years to buy new fiction and the most recent title I was able to find was from 2003. None of the amazing contemporary books by my fellow authors were available and it was saddening. So I did the call and got around 20 responses. I offered to take the books back with me from the conference to give to the center. At the conference, however, more than those who signed up gave books. Some gave their whole collection (one gave 10 books!), Riptide generously gave a whole bunch and I gave bunch of books I won/bought. The majority, however, was from individual donations and I am SO thankful for the generosity. This will be a great Christmas for the library and the people who read the books from there. 
Sadly, Arni - the director - was sick and was unable to receive the books. There was an annual meeting later in the evening, so I stacked the boxes in Arni's office and the board of the LGBT organization officially received them instead. We got a big round of applause for all the books and they thank you from the bottoms of their hearts. Since this was in the evening, my cousin was unable to attend and therefor I had no photographer. So, no pictures from the delivery. I did take a picture of the 63 books we lugged with us back to Iceland (header picture), so you can see the pretty pile. 
Again, a big thank you to everyone - and the ones who asked me for the center's address to send books. Here are the people/publishers who donated books (I sincerely hope I didn't forget anyone):
Ally BlueAnel VizAnne TeninoAR MoelerBella LeoneCherie NoelChristopher KoehlerClancy Nacht and Thursday EuclidDC JurisEdmond ManningEm LinleyErica PikeGeoffrey KnightJessica FreelyJP BowieKC BurnKiernan KellyKim FieldingMarguerite LabbeMercy CelesteMLR PressNJ NielsenPrism BooksResplendenceRiptideSara YorkSimone AndersonTaylor V. DonovanTC BlueTorquereTotal E-BoundZ. Allora

#Smashwords and #LGBT: Please Recognize Us...

I'm am severely disappointed right now. I was very happy with Smashwords during the whole Paypal censorship matter and thought, hey, that's a place I want to do business with in the future. Seeing my titles up there will make me proud. I still retained those ideas until this morning.
Recently, my publisher, No Boundaries Press, uploaded all their titles to Smashwords and I was very excited. I didn't have time to look at it until today when I rushed off to the Gay & Lesbian section and searched...and searched...and searched for my titles (yes, I wanted to see them in the "New" section, instead of searching for my name - I was that excited). Fifty New titles in and I started to wonder if my titles had been incorrectly cataloged. 
So I did a search for my titles and discovered that instead of Gay & Lesbian - Gay, they were cataloged as Erotica - Gay Erotica. My titles are Romance Erotica, not Erotica, but I understood how my publisher was forced to catalog my titles there (since there are explicit scenes - she's been forced to do this elsewhere as well, though All Romance eBooks did create a special Erotic Romance category for the thousands of titles like mine). However, very few people looking for gay & lesbian titles will look under Erotica first. Besides, "Erotica" means sex only, as in there's no romance involved, and my stories are all based on love instead of just sex (even my Grade-A-Sex Deal is a Romance Erotica). It genuinely hurt to see my titles among titles such as Flaming Hot Gay BDSM, The Electrician's Ass, Confessing to Daddy, My Neighbors Little Girl, A Boy for the Tentacle Monster, Dripping Lust, Lubrication, Breeding His Daddy's Friend, Prison Sissy Sex Slave, Grocery Store Gang Bang... You get the picture and no offense to these authors - these titles and (probably) content belong under Erotica while mine (and more I saw lumped under Erotica) belong under Romance Erotica. There's a huge difference between a stroke-off and a Romance Erotica - both have its literary merits, I'm in no way down-talking Erotica here, I've even written a few that are unpublished yet - but a lot of retailers don't see a difference. It's gay sex, so it must be Erotica!
Okay, so my stories were doomed to hang out with the true Erotica titles. But hey! Farther down the page was a Romance category! I checked to see if there was a Gay sub-category there. They had Erotica sub-category! That's Romance Erotica , so maybe they have Gay under there...but they didn't. Of course, the male/female stories get their very own plethora of Romance sub-categories while the Gay & Lesbian get chucked under Erotica. Nothing new here. It's been this way ever since LGBT literature existed. Smashwords, I'm deeply disappointed. 
So I thought, hey, what about all those sub-genres of LGBT fiction out there. Most of them are Romances (and a lot of them containing some level of Erotic content) with sub-categories of: Sci-Fi, Historical, Paranormal, Horror, Action & Suspense, Holiday, Fantasy, Humor, Mystery, not to mention all the hundreds and hundreds of Westerns (gay cowboys, anyone?). But was there a "Gay" under these categories? Of not! 
So, a reader's option, when looking for Gay Lit, is to search through an impossibly long list of titles in the Gay & Lesbian - Gay (and no sub-cats like Historical, Sci-Fi, Horror, etc.), or Erotica - Gay Erotica (and I still insist that people who are looking for gay literature - erotic or not - do not go searching under Erotica to find them unless they know to look for them there, or unless EVERY category (Historical, Romance, Sci-Fi, etc.) has a Gay sub-category).
Yes, I'm probably being harsh writing only about Smashwords here. To their credit, they do have LGBT under Young Adult (not many do that). The reason I write about Smashwords specifically is because I always figured they were different, more open, more inclusive than other retailers. They're groundbreaking, they're iconic, they fight for writers. It breaks my heart to discover that, in the end, they're might just be like all the others when it comes to LGBT literature...  
If there are any retailers reading this. Please, please reconsider your cataloging of LGBT titles. Most (If not all) of you are behind times. There's been an explosion of LGBT titles in the past years and as things are now, it is extremely difficult to search through all the thousands and thousands of LGBT titles to find, for example, the most recent Sci-Fi title. I know you each have your own way of cataloging your titles, and you have very limited sub-categories, but I recommend using one (or both) of these methods:
This one's more politically correct. Have a sub-genre of Gay, Lesbian, Transgender, and Bisexual under each of your main categories (or as a sub-sub genre if you have Paranormal under Romance - so Romance - Paranormal - Gay, Romance - Paranormal - Lesbian). Historical - Gay, Sci-Fi - Gay, Horror - Gay (yes, there are gay horror stories out there and they're damn good). Please be aware that most people looking for Lesbian literature are NOT looking for Gay (as in male/male). Please also be aware that there's a big difference between Erotica and Romance Erotica.
This one's easier for people to find what they're looking for - at least at first, while they're getting used to the changes of LGBT literature being included in mainstream categories. Have an LGBT main genre, Gay, Lesbian, Transgender, and Bisexual under that (and again, people looking for Transgender are NOT looking for Lesbian - it's not the same thing even though we're fighting for rights under the same umbrella), and then sub-sub categories of romance, erotica, romance erotica (or erotic romance - whichever way you wish to call it), Historical, Sci-Fi, Western, Paranormal, Horror, Post-Apocalyptic etc. etc. So, LGBT - Gay - Historical, LGBT - Lesbian - Sci-Fi, LGBT - Transgender - Contemporary, etc.
Personally, I recommend you do both, so readers have it easier to find what they're looking for. That's the point after all, right? The reason I usually stick to LGBT specific sales sites is because it's easier to find what I'm looking for. I just don't have the time to scroll through titles and titles of mixed sub-genres (or titles that aren't even cataloged under LGBT - like Erotica when I'm looking for a Romance Erotica). Don't wait too long and don't ignore this. This is a market increasing at a spiraling rate and I can only see it exploding further with all the changes in the USA today and in the future. Do you really want to miss sales because your cataloging is outdated? 
Header image by plrang via Stock.xchng.com (free stock images)

Got SWAG?

Hi guys,
I'm being brief again. Still trying to catch up on everything. 
I'm going to make a post about my GRL SWAG soon, once I've uploaded the pictures. In the meantime, you can win one of each SWAG I had (except the candy - I'm all out) by visiting Beauty and Books and do their Rafflecopter thing. If you're an M/M reader, I might throw in signed SWAG from another M/M GRL writer ;) Oh yes, I brought a bunch of extra with me. It says on B&B that the SWAG is USA only, but it's international from me. 
So, Thanksgiving. What am I thankful for?
My sons.My family.My GRL trip!

Halloween Prizes!

I know I'm way overdue on these drawings, but I did say that I wouldn't be on time due to my USA trip. Just got back, time difference still giving me a run for my money, but I've almost finished unpacking my bags, so I'm feeling pretty good about myself ^.^
So, here are the results after a random drawing:
For the Long and Short Reviews (The Ghosts Are Sexy Too post):
Debby!
For the Howloween Blog Hop:
Kassandra!
For the Wicked After Dark Hop:
Anne R!
These ladies have already been contacted. Thank you all for playing and I hope to see you all around my November contests.
Header image by Billy Frank Alexander via http://www.sxc.hu

Ghosts are Sexy Too!

I'm blogging at the Long and Short Reviews today about sexy ghosts. I'm going to post the same thing here and then you have a chance to win a copy of Hot Hands. What you have to do is leave a comment to THIS post along with your email address. I will draw, contact and announce a winner on November 3rd.
Are ghosts real? Yes they are. I've been fed the “stories” (which were never told as “stories” here in Iceland but facts) since I was a kid and I've had firsthand experience with ghosts. I've blogged about that on my own blog this Halloween, so head on over if you’re curious.

But are ghosts sexy? I didn't used to think so when I was younger. Surely they’d be ugly fiends with axes sticking out of their heads. Surely they’d be corporal monsters that can strangle you in your sleep. Right? Wrong. What I've come to realize is that ghosts look the same as they did when they were alive. Maybe in their prime, or maybe as they were when they died, but if there are sexy people in our world (and boy, are there ever!), ghosts can be sexy, too.

I’m currently publishing and writing contemporary m/m erotic romance. However, I've always been tempted to write ghost stories, and I’m sure it won’t be long before I do. What could be more romantic than lovers who are stuck in separate world, only able to see each other but not touch? What could be sexier than not being about to touch but only see? I don’t know how I would iron out an ending here, but there are many possibilities. The meat - the middle - could be so rich with the ghost’s different era, his joys, his dreams. How did he die? Did he have a lover back then? Can he have a living lover now? How do they have sex? This topic has probably been written about a thousand times, but that’s the beauty about crafting stories with a common theme: you get to create new characters with unique tales and personalities. To make the story highly erotic would be a challenge since there can’t be any touching, but it is a challenge worth taking.

Since this story is still in the prison of my mind, I cannot offer a ghost themed book for a giveaway. However, I will offer up a copy of Hot Hands, which is a story where Casper (not the ghost!) is being goosed and groped at school and wants to identify the guy he’s dubbed “Hot Hands”. Hot Hands, however, doesn't want to be seen, so Casper has to rely on his other senses: ears, taste, smell, and touch to get to know his groper. Kind of like the opposite of the ghost story.

Now, I will probably be at the GayRomLit Retreat in Albuquerque with a bunch of other m/m authors when this post goes live, so I hope you’ll forgive that I won’t reply to everyone.

Before I go, I'm inviting you to follow me through my newsletter, Twitter, Facebook page and/or Goodreads. This is not necessary to take part in the contest.

Before I post the excerpts, if you want a free story of mine you can download Half-Baked Promises from here.
So, happy Halloween and remember that ghosts can be sexy, too!

It's Howloween and You Might Just Weeen Something.

Okay, bad attempt at a written accent. What I meant to say is that you might win something! That's right, I'm taking part in three (!) Halloween hops or events and this is the second one. You can find the Wicked After Dark Blog Hop here.
I'm going to keep this short and to the point. We don't celebrate Halloween here in Iceland, but I'm fascinated with this holiday. I think it's beyond cool. Actually, there have been adult Halloween parties here for the last few years, but nothing for the kids. We host a similar event for the kids in the spring, and on January 6th here in my hometown alone (has been a tradition since my mom was little, I have no idea why it isn't done elsewhere too). 
So! I'm offering up a Boston Boys prize: an e-copy of A Life Without You or Absolutely Eric, and SWAG! Yup, I'm a proud owner of SWAG now after GayRomLit, and I want to share it. This, of course, is international. So, one winner for the whole package.
What you have to do is leave a comment and please say which format you'd prefer: pdf, mobi or ePub. Please also tell me which book you'd like if you win and leave me an email address. If you don't want your email address in comments, feel free to send me mail with "Howloween Hop" in the subject line. I will randomly draw, contact and announce the winner as soon as I can after the hop (since I'll be on the road!).
I'm not going to force you to follow me or subscribe to anything of mine, but if you're interested I have several options. There's a follow button to the right for those who prefer that. I also have a newsletter, Twitter account and a Facebook page. You can even check me out on Goodreads. Again, this is not necessary to take part in the contest.
Before I post the excerpts, if you want a free story of mine you can download Half-Baked Promises from here.
Jesse's like a bar of soap: the tighter Adam holds on, the faster Jesse slips away. Or that's how it feels to Adam. It doesn't help that Jesse has a girlfriend back home and claims to be straight, but there's no way with all the sparks and physical intimacy flying between the two roommates.

When Adam believes he has reached his ultimate happiness, the bedroom walls come crashing down with a visit from Jesse's girlfriend.

Now Jesse has to decide if he can come to terms with his sexuality, while Adam has to learn to accept that Jesse might never be able to crawl out of the closet.


Eric Wesley is short and snazzy, hot and happy. Or thats what he thought. After three years of living on the wild side hes tired of being a playboy and wants to find love.

Eric, however, has never been in love before and doesnt see that the guy whos been gazing at him all summer might be Mr. Right. Alexander Centauri isnt only style-less and clumsy, but also terribly awkward. After a miserable date, Eric plants Alex on another guys lap and goes after Mr. Wrong who looks so right.

When Eric realizes his mistake, it might be too late.

Wicked After Dark Hop

I'm taking part in three blog hops or events over Halloween. This is the first one, the others will be on Oct 26 and 29. 
We don't celebrate Halloween in Iceland so I am absolutely thrilled to be in the USA on the 31st this year. My cousin and I will be in Vegas on the weekend before - the 27th - and we're going out clubbing in costumes. Can't miss the opportunity! Then on the 31st we'll be in Veil, looking like two creeps standing on a street corner to watch the kids trick or treat. I just hope the cops don't show up! We just want to see this thing in action ^.^
I'm supposed to offer up something wicked. All I can offer are erotic stories from my College Fun and Gays series. These are short stories that have been well received and there are even people waiting for the next in the series. All of them are standalone stories (with college as a theme), so you don't have to start with the first. If you're impatient to get one of these stories, they can be bought at No Boundaries Press and other retailers (Amazon, B&N, ARe etc.).
However! You can try to win a story. I'm choosing two winners. Each winner can choose from one of the following stories. To enter, please leave a comment and tell me which book and format you'd prefer (pdf, mobi or ePub). Please also leave me your email address. If you don't want your email address on the internet you can send me mail at eripike at gmail dot com with "Wicked Hop" in the subject line. I will randomly draw, contact and announce the winner as soon as I can after the hop (since I'll be on the road!).
I'm not going to force you to follow me or subscribe to anything of mine, but if you're interested I have several options. There's a follow button to the right for those who prefer that. I also have a newsletter, Twitter account and a Facebook page. You can even check me out on Goodreads. Again, this is not necessary to take part in the contest.

Before I post the excerpts, if you want a free story of mine you can download Half-Baked Promises from here.

For weeks, college student Casper has been the victim of sail-by goosing and groping. The problem is that Casper would very much like to get more than groped by those wonderful, big, hot hands. 
With a journal full of clues, he sets out to discover who his mystery groper is. However, he may be in serious trouble once he discovers the ominous identity, trouble that has nothing to do with the light bondage involved.
When College professor Daniel Corrigan was brutally kicked out of his home after revealing his true sexuality to his wife, he had to make a whole new life for himself. For the first time in two years Daniels main heartache isnt the none-existent relationship with his two kids, but the fact that the grade-A-sex deal with his student Troy Anderson is about to expire. After a whole semester of office fun, Troy has managed to squeeze his way into the core of Daniels soul. Daniel, however, is positive hes nothing more to Troy but a teacher who can modify a grade.
Short and scrawny college student Harley Santos has a strange relationship with the guy on the other side of his bedroom wall. For weeks, the two have been masturbating to each others voices, but they have never met in person.
When Harleys roommate (Ryan) is asked out on a date by one of his neighbors, Harley is devastated that his wall-mate mistook not-hot Harley for super-hot Ryan. Helping Harley through his heartache is Tasha Novokov, the other neighbor, who is tall, dark, and impossibly handsome.
Linky tool. 

Icelandic Ghosts: Are They Real?

Photo by Thora R.KristjansdottirIt's Halloween month and so far I've either posted or have scheduled three posts on ghosts. I don't see why I should write about werewolves or vampires because I don't believe those exists. Ghosts, however...
Yes, crazy as I may seem to you, I do believe they exist. I know they exist. 

Icelanders generally believe in ghosts. Why? Because believing in the supernatural is deeply rooted in most Icelanders and we hear the stories from a young age. There are stories about trolls who venture out at night and turn to stone if they don't make it back to their caves before the sun comes up - there are rock figures that prove this. There are human-sized elves and small elves who live in rocks and mountains, and should those rocks and mountains be disturbed you're in a hell of a lot of trouble. There's a ghost at the crossroads to my hometown - many people claim to have seen him and he's been around ever since my grandmother was little. These stories are told as if they are facts, not fiction. My other grandmother has always been able to see ghosts. She doesn't talk about it too often, but it's eerie how she can talk about a woman wrapped up in a shawl and describe her looks and how she smiles and holds her hands in her lap, only to discover a couple of days after from the owner of the house (who didn't live there - my uncle was renting the place) that it was his late wife. The exact shawl, the exact gestures and smile. This isn't a one-time sighting. She even used to play with them when she was a child. 
It's easy to see "stoned" (*snicker*) trolls in the
rough Icelandic landscape.
Photo by Thora R. KristjansdottirWhen I was little, ghosts scared the hell out of me. The ghosts I pictured were sheet-covered beings who made "whooooo" sounds, and then they were see-through and could walk through walls. But then I caught glimpses of American horror movies where ghosts manifested in small children with the intent to scare (not  just kill; scare). As I grew older I realized that they are souls that weren't ready to die, and so they linger behind. It makes sense. The majority of people go to heaven/hell (or wherever they go) and the ones who died very suddenly or have business yet to finish remain behind. However, I've found that I’m not much of a Christian believer anymore. Sure, there’s some good force out there and I might as well call it “God”, but I don’t really believe in some euphoric heaven or demonic hell. I believe that we all become “ghosts” - spirits that are unseen by most. However, those who die suddenly - those who don’t necessarily know they’re dead - are more likely to be seen. The same goes for those with unfinished business. That would also make sense because those who died suddenly or have unfinished business are still trying to move around in the world of the living and want to finish their business. Some may find a way to finish their business but some will longer forever. Icelandic nature often has a supernatural feel to it.
Photo by Thora R. KristjansdottirNow I probably sound nuts to a lot of you, but this is my firm belief. I have seen a ghost myself, when I was in England. I don’t remember it much, but my cousin remembers clear as day. A girl, dressed in clothes from another century, was sitting on her bed. The odd thing is that I wasn't scared, she didn't mean any harm, but I scared the living daylights out of my cousin. This is the only sighting I remember - however, I frequently talked about the “woman in the hallway” when I was a toddler and used to point at her. That scared my mom, and she asked grandma once if there was someone “there” and grandma said there was a woman in the hallway. 
But here’s the thing with me. I’m sensitive - or empathic or whatever I should call it - so I sometimes sense a presence or even the “vibe” of a place. I can sometimes feel it when bad things have happened (as in, I have to get out of the house or suffer the feeling of suffocation/intense fright). That place where I lived as a baby, it’s a house that many family members have lived in and I always sensed this presence when I was older and visiting. I didn't like sleeping over because something felt weird. I didn't know what it was and I didn't know about the “woman in the hallway” until a couple of years ago when my mom was telling my uncle about it (again, stated as a fact, not fiction). 
Then there's one of my sons who, as a toddler, used to point at the bare wall in his bedroom and say he was scared of the man in the wall. I tried all sorts of things to get him to understand that there was no man in the wall, but he kept saying it (only 2 - 3 years old) and although I wished I didn't believe there was a ghost in the wall, I believed him. So, after different experiments, one that including swatting at the wall with a fly-spade, I spoke to the ghost after my sons were asleep. I told him, in a firm voice, to leave. He's scaring my boy and he can't keep doing that. Well, my son didn't talk about the man in the wall for about half a year! Then he started talking about him again and I went through the same speech.
So, are ghosts real? Yes they are.
Body in the water? ^.^
Photo by Thora R. Kristjansdottir

100 M/M E-Books for One Person

Want a chance to win 100 m/m e-books? No, I didn't accidentally add two zeros. I didn't accidentally add one zero either. Eliza Rolle, the girl organizing the Rainbow Awards, is hosting a huge giveaway with books by a lot of the GRL authors. All those books go to ONE winner. There are also second and third places, each one winning an m/m DVD. Just hop on over to her Livejournal page and leave a comment with your email. If you don't have an LJ account, then that's okay because you can post as anonymous. Just remember to leave your email address.