Erica Pike's Blog, page 26

Men With Emotions

I'm guest-blogging at Randy's Book Bag Reviews Today :) The topic is Men With Emotions. I actually have follow up blogs written about this topic that have to do with emotional men in books, but they will be posted sometime in the future on my blog (probably).

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Work Work

I've been relatively quiet for the past few days, because I'm doing the final edits for Absolutely Eric! It's going to line-edits very soon. I cannot express how much I'm looking forward to sharing this story with the world. I love in ways I've never loved anything else I've ever written.
Things have been going well:
A Life Without You:5 stars @ Randy Book Bag Reviews4.5 pants @ Pants Off Reviews4 stars @ Manic Readers
Hot Hands:4 stars @ Brief Encounters4 pants @ Pants Off Reviews4 stars @ Manic Readers
4 stars @ MM Romance Reviews and Tana Rae Reads4 hearts @ Hearts On Fire Reviews4 stars @ My Book Boyfriend
Grade-A-Sex Deal:4 hearts @ MM Romance Reviews (Tana Rae Reads - only on Goodreads for now)4 stars @ My Book Boyfriend (and OMG the picture she chose!)
I got the cover for The Walls Have Ears (looove the color!). It'll be out in March, but I still have to work on the edits:


Blurb:
Short andscrawny college student Harley Santos has a strange relationship with the guyon the other side of his bedroom wall. For weeks, the two have beenmasturbating to each other's voices, but they have never met in person. Infact, Harley doesn't know which one of the two roommates next door is hiswall-mate. What he does know is that he's in love – at least with the wall-makein his fantasies.
WhenHarley's roommate (Ryan) is asked on a date by one of his neighbors, Harley isdevastated that his wall-mate mistook not-hot Harley for super-hot Ryan. Helping Harleythrough his heartache is Tasha Novokov, the other neighbor, who is tall, dark,and impossibly handsome.
When Harley'saffections shift to Tasha, his heartache hits an all time high because with allthe girls hanging around, Tasha has to be straight.

Anyway, in the words of the poor, over-worked Orc peons: work work.Header image credit

Grade-A-Sex Deal Excerpt

Here's a little excerpt from yesterday's release of Grade-A-Sex Deal:

A light knock on the door brings me out of my misery. The only perk of this job is about to enter, and perky he is indeed.
Troy Anderson pokes his beautiful face into my office, swings his slim, athletic body inside and locks the door behind him.
"Come in," I say calmly to the young kid who only ever wears skin-tight jeans and sleeveless tops. My guess is that he does it just to tease me. I can't take my eyes off his thin waist and nicely toned biceps and whenever he catches me ogling, he shoots me a smirk.
"What can I do for you, Troy?"
"You can give me an A on that exam you're making," Troy replies in his low, seductive voice. His blue eyes scan the table in front of me. Out of habit I pull a folder over my notes. 
"And why would I do that?" I ask in my monotone teaching voice.
Troy's full lips quirk into a smirk. "Because we have a deal."
He walks to my desk and traces the edge with a long finger. My eyes follow that finger where it slides off the wood and lands on his growing bulge.
"The deal's off," I state matter-of-factly. 
An old magazine lies on top of my screen. I grab it and pretend to sink my consciousness in the wonders of the South-American rainforests while everything within me is fantasizing about what he keeps hidden in those jeans.
"No way," Troy says with a confident smile in his voice. "I haven't been coming to see you every week for you to bail out now. The exam is next week."
I count down a full minute before I lower the magazine to answer. "I'm very well aware of that, Mr. Anderson, but you didn't show up last Monday night. You broke the deal."
"Oh come on, I was studying," he says and for the first time I hear a crack in his resolve. It surprises me so much that my eyes fly up to meet his. That gorgeous, sandy-blond hair half covers one of his blue eyes and sweeps the curve of his neck. His slender jaw flexes on his tanned face as he swallows.
"What do you propose?" I ask calmly, trying hard not to reveal how much he affects me. His mere presence is enough to have me jumping hoops. Yes, we do have a grade-A-sex deal, but the more we meet the more I like having him around. 
He resumes his calm nature, leaning over the end of the desk with his perky little ass in the air. "Well, I'm here now. You can do me twice."
He has my undivided attention for a few seconds before I toss away the magazine, grab a pen and start flicking through the Webster's. 
"Oh come on," he murmurs, edging himself a little farther towards me. "I know you have other guys knocking on your door every night. It's not like you didn't have anyone to play with. How many guys have you fucked this week?"
"Several," I reply with a shrug. "How many teachers have fucked you this week?"
"Several," he echoes with a carefree grin and adjusts his perfectly shaped elbows on my desk. 

New Release!

I'm happy to announce that Grade-A-Sex Deal was released by No Boundaries Press today! I'm doing a pretty funky office-chair wiggle. So glad I have a tiny heart shaped sticker over my webcam ^.^
Blurb:

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 Daniel's main heartache isn't 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 Daniel's soul. Daniel, however, is positive he's nothing more to Troy than a teacher who can modify a grade. 
A Grade-A-Sex Deal is the second of five in a series of short stories, College Fun and Gays.

I've set it up on Goodreads.
It's $2.99 and available from these sellers (will add links as they pop up):No Boundaries Press Store (to buy directly from the publisher)All Romance eBooksAmazon.comAmazon.co.ukBarnes & NobleBookstrand

Hop Winners and a Word on Homophobia

There were 40 entries to my giveaway this time, which is more than last time and absolutely fantastic. It still indicates that I have a lot of work to do for the m/m-only blog hop in May. We'll want greater numbers than 40 with 130 m/m authors, publishers and reviewers already signed up (and more coming). If you're an m/m author, publisher or reviewer (don't have to be m/m-exclusive publisher or reviewer) and want to take part in the Hop Against Homophobia, sign-ups will be open until May 16th. The more the merrier.

If you're a reader, we'd love it if you could mark down this event and tell your m/m-reading friend about it. This is for a good cause: 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. I'm sure many of you caught the RWA's stint of excluding same-sex romance stories from entering their More than Magic contest. RWA cancelled the contest after an uproar from the GLBT community and supporters, but they followed the cancellation up with a lame excuse that shows that the m/m genre still has a lot of work ahead of itself to be considered normal. We hope that Hop Against Homophobia will be a step toward making that happen.

But you  probably came here to see if you won! The plan was to draw three winners, one for each prize offered, but since I have two kids I decided to draw four winners. What I did was print out the entrants' names, cut it down in strips, fold the whole lot up and let them draw two each.
The winners are:
Valerie - A Life Without YouPD Singer - Hot HandsLisa - Hot HandsValentina - Grade-A-Sex Deal (it will be out very soon!)
Congrats guys :) I'll send out the emails later today. For the rest of you, I'm so sorry you didn't win this time, but I'm taking part in the Easter hop where you'll get another chance :) Then, of course, there's the May 17th Hop Against Homophobia where my prizes will be a bit more extravagant and in greater numbers. 
Until then, you're welcome to download my very short but very sweet free story, In His Pocket. If you get warning messages, just continue to click "continue" until you get the file to download (I hear this can be a problem for international people).

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Giveaway Errors

ImageIt appears that Blogger has been acting up for the past few days and some people aren't able to comment to enter the Valentine's Hop giveaways. If you encounter such a problem on this blog, feel free to email me and you will be entered into the contest: eripike at gmail dot com.
To enter this giveaway, just leave a comment and a way for me to reach you (you can see my official hop post here).To find a list of the 33 m/m authors in this blog hop, go here.
...or just scroll down ^.^

Valentine's Blog Hop!

ImageIt's that time again when I feel like throwing out some books to willing readers. I'm single this year for the first time since I was sixteen, but I'm happy nonetheless. Where will I be on Sunday February 14th? Curled up in my La-Z-Boy with Valentine's stories ^.^ We don't really celebrate this day over here anyway.
I didn't write any Valentine's stories this year, but since all my stories are about love I'd like to give away what I have. These are all e-books and there will be three winners - one book for each.
- Hot Hands: A story about a college boy who's been a victim of sail-by goosing.- A Grade-A-Sex Deal: A story about a teacher who has a grade-A-sex deal with his student. (Will be published in February)- A Life Without You: A story about a college boy who's in love with his roommate.
ImageJust like last time I won't make you jump through hoops to enter the giveaway. All you need to do is leave a comment below and a way for me to contact you. I'll announce the winner early on the 15th and send him/her an email. I'm inviting you to click the follow button to the right, but it's not mandatory. There's really no point if you're not an m/m reader and/or have no interest in keeping up with my writing. I'm also leaving a link to my author page on facebook - again, optional. No extra entries or anything like that ^.^
Take a look at all the other people taking part in this. We're talking 263 people of all genres. Only want the m/m ones? There are 33! Have a look at the  list I made  ^.^
Want a cute little free read? In His Pocket is available for download at NBP's website (just click continue until you get it - ignore the warnings/errors).

I'd like to take this opportunity to promote the m/m-only blog hop that'll take place on May 17th. That's the date for the International Day Against Homophobia. We already have 120 m/m authors, publishers, and reviewers signed up and if you'd like to take part go and have a look at the Hop Against Homophobia blog :) If you're a reader you're free to have a look as well - we look forward to seeing you there on May 17th ^.^
Have a lovely Valentine!
Erica :)

The Valentine's M/M Short-List

Hi guys :)
I'm taking part in Drea Becraft's Valentine's Day Blog Hop. It launches on the 11th of February. There are 263 blogs to visit for a chance at prizes. Out of those there are 33 M/M authors. I made a list of those to make things easier for people who only read M/M. Just click the names to go there :)
M/M Authors:
Erica Pike: An e-copy of my gay romances: A LifeWithout You, Hot Hands, A Grade-A-Sex-Deal.NormaNielson: Amazon GCZathynPriest: eBook of TheCurtis ReincarnationK-Lee Klein: ebook copy of either Love & Patienceor Theme of HeartsTara Lain: The winners choice of any Tara Lain book(two winners)Tara Lain: A choice from my backlist and a $10Starbucks card (She has two entries...I don't know if it was a mistake or not –go HavanFellows: 2 winners –choice of book from my backlistElizabeth Noble: [Unknown]Belinda McBride: Winner's choice of abook from my backlistKharisma Rayne: 2backlist Ebooks of choiceLily Sawyer: winner's choice of one of my booksDC Juris: winner's choice of 1 pdf from mybacklistS.J. Frost: Winner's Choice of one title from mybacklist in ebookAnneBarwell: An ebook copy ofmy novel ShadowboxinRawiya: A choice of , Time to Make the Donuts orMy Lieutenant or Something Fresh Served HotLee Brazil: 6 ebooksKeta Diablo: 2 PDFs of CrossroadsH.B. Pattskyn: A signed copy of Heart's HomeJulie LynnHayes: Winner's choice ofbacklist.Shannon West: ebook copy of Georgia HeatPD Singer: Choice of backlist story or  my newnovel, The Rare Event, and a PD Singer keychain flashlightWestThornhill: Copy ofTranscendStephanieDanielson: Winner's choice offbacklistL.M. Brown: ebook copy of the Gift of Loveanthology.CharlieCochet:  Ebook ofWhen Love Walked In, $10 Amazon GC, & a bookmark!Gabrielle Evans: $50Amazon GCAJ Jarrett: $25 Gift Card to AmazonLauraHarner: $15 ebook bucksfrom All Romance eBooksMeganSlayer: $5 GC to ChangelingPressSara York: $20 at AmazonJaxx Steele: T-shirt and MugsJana Downs: First three books of the Ravyn Warriorsseries in .pdf formatCharlieCochran: A goodie bag of veryEnglish toiletriesPubs/Review sites/Blogs that are offering M/M books (or have m/m sections):NoBoundaries Press: 1 Book Amonth for 6 months & 3monthsBreathlessPress: 3 Winners –choice of book from our back listRenThompson: $25 GC (GLBT blog)

Erica :)

Misc. Tidbits

ImageI've started reading Infected: Prey by Andrea Speed and so far I'm captivated! Wow, that girl can write.
Hop Against Homophobia has reached an awesome number of 70 m/m authors/publishers/reviewers and we're expecting lots more. The M/M-only blog hop kick-off date will be on May 17 (International Day Against Homophobia) and readers are welcome to visit the blogs and see if they can win a book or ten! It will be advertised later :)
I just got my edits back from MLR Press, No Boundaries Press and two from my critique partner AM Riley. I have a lot of work ahead of me. Three are short stories but those take just as much work as the novel-length manuscripts. Thankfully, the novel manuscript (Absolutely Eric) is nearly done. I just have tiny changes to make. Sooo exciting and I can't wait to reveal the cover. I'm looking forward to share this book with everyone ^.^ Since I'm all about setting goals these days I'll give myself until the end of next week to finish all this.

M/M-Only Blog Hop

We're opening up registration to our m/m-only blog hop.
Basic rules are that you must be an M/M author/publisher/seller/reviewer. You don't have to be m/m-only publisher/seller/reviewer as long as you're offering a m/m-related prize.
Here's the official post:
An M/M-only blog hop!
Now that we've finally released some gay romances, we (Erica Pike, NJ Nielsen, andK-Lee Klein) have begun to take part in blog hops. They'regreat fun and we're very appreciative to be invited along for the ride. Onething we've noticed though is the lack of M/M specific blog hops created forwriters and readers of our particular genre. So we thought, why not makeone?
K-Lee came up with the clever name: Hop Against Homophobia , and we've decided to usethe  International Day Against Homophobia , May 17th, as our official hopkickoff date. The hop will run until midnight May 20th.
We hope to get as many authors of gay (M/M) fiction as we can to sign upand show their support. Publishers, sellers and reviewers are welcome to takepart as long as your prize is M/M-related.
Here are the author participation requirements:
--- Be an author/publisher/seller/reviewerof M/M fiction.--- Offer a M/M-related prize (M/Mbook/ebook, or GLBTQ swag, t-shirt, whatever you can come up with).--- Provide links of other blogparticipants to your blog visitors (will be explained in an email, but it'll beas easy as copy-paste).--- Talk about the InternationalDay Against Homophobia in your May 17th blog entry (as little as just a mention– your choice).--- Add the colorful Hop AgainstHomophobia image to your blog/website with a link to the official hop site (http://hopagainsthomophobia.blogspot.com/).
We are discouraging the use of gift cards as prizes. In doing this, wehope to attract readers more specific to our M/M genre and not just readerslooking to score a gift card. We want m/m fiction lovers to win ourprizes!
We plan to do as much promotion on this as we can and we'd appreciate itif all participants could help by mentioning the hop once in a while. Thisis OUR (people of the gay fiction genre) hop, and if successful thisyear, it could turn into a fabulous annual event of M/M love!
What is ablog hop? Take a look at this post .
For authors/publishers/sellers/reviewers interested in takingpart, specifics will be sent via email once we get closer to the date, soeveryone will know what to do. But for now, please sign up and encourage others to do the same :)