Joey James Hook's Blog

Re-release around the corner!

Okay so it's pretty much been proven that I am the worst blogger ever when it comes to consistently updating you all with what progress I've been making in my little corner of the world. That is mostly because for a while there was nothing to update with. Now, everything is just sort of happening at once, and honestly I'm not sure which of the options is preferable, but balance has never been my strong suit! I either write all the time or not at all; I am a man of extremes, for sure.

ALL RIGHT, so first on the agenda is that I have a new cover for One Two Three, Shatter! I mourn and miss my first one, but this second one is beautiful in its own right, and I'll share it here.

Isn't it beautiful? It was done by the talented Lex Valentine of Rooster and Pig Publishing, and I think she recaptured the setting very well. You can head over here and read an exclusive interview and excerpt from the heavily edited re-release, and one of my favorite scenes was chosen as the excerpt!

This coveted re-release is happening on December 20th, but you can pre-order it at a lower price here! The buy link is about halfway down, after alerting you that I am the author of the month for Rooster and Pig Publishing, which is pretty exciting. I've put my blood, sweat and tears into this story, both the first round and this second one, so it would mean a lot if you lovelies who bought/read it the first time gave the re-release another chance to see what we've changed in Kaleb's little world.

Currently I'm working on a new round of edits for One Two Three, Salvation, and for the latter part of this series I've been given a unique chance to fix some plot holes that readers have pointed out in the later books. The upcoming novels will include much more world-building and character-building, and I'm excited to see what you all think of the changes! As far as new, fresh writing goes, I had a manuscript finished before the worst of the worst happened: my computer crashed and I didn't back up my manuscript, at least not the most recent version, to my email. Sad story, I know.

Always save your work, kiddos.

Signing off for now! What are you all currently working on? Thanks for reading :)
-Joey

Little bit of everything

I'm sure by this point everyone's heard about Silver Publishing and everything that's gone on with that cluster, so I'm not going to go into it. I'm just going to say that I got my rights back to Kaleb and Kay's stories, and now I'm looking to publish them with Rooster and Pig Publishing.

That being said, I haven't had much time to dedicate to writing and such, because of the fiasco with Silver I haven't been able to use writing as a means to making ends meet, so I've been working more or less nonstop. That being the case, I am working on rewriting a couple of my older stories, making them better and shopping around for other publishers.

All I'm saying is keep an eye out for new stuff relatively soon. Well, new old stuff, but you know what I mean. Signing off for now!

An Update Of Sorts. Warning: All over the place.

I know, I know. I use this thing so sporadically, and so much has happened since the last time I updated this thing. So, what was it, the 19th of July? Since then, One Two Three, Salvation came out to two wonderful five star reviews. You can read them here and here. Thanks so much to Cat and Nanee for saying such kind words about my novel. It means a lot to me :)

That brings me to my next bit of news. I signed a contract for the next in the series, Drawing By Heart, and it's set for release on November 23rd. Now, some of you might remember this as one of the three novels I was working on for NaNoWriMo this year, which makes this even more special for me. I love this particular story and it keeps the suspense and mystery going more than I'd expected.

What I really came here to show off, so to speak, is the beautiful new cover I have for Drawing By Heart. It was done by a different cover artist this time, which had me a little bit apprehensive, but it came out beautifully. I wish I'd been able to keep one of the models from the other cover, but the model for Kay is absolutely fucking perfect and I can't wait to show it to you! So that's exactly what I'm going to do.

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Isn't it beautiful?

That being said, I'm participating in NaNoWriMo again this year, as I always do, but I'm going in without a single damn idea as to what I'm going to write. It'll probably hit me a couple days in or something. I hope to see some of you doing the same thing, and look forward to sharing word counts and sprints like we did last year.

One more thing. Mrs Condit reviewed One Two Three, Shatter for her retro reads, and gave it 5 stars as well. You can read that review here and she also nominated me for Author of the Month. I didn't win, I was up against some stiff competition, but she did give a nifty little nominee badge I can display right here:

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OKAY, I think this entry is 'all over the place' enough that I should probably end it here before it goes off in a completely different direction. Hopefully I'll start using this more, especially as Drawing By Heart comes out, but I said that about One Two Three, Salvation too, didn't I?

Til next time!
~Joey

Blog Hop Time!

This time, I'm participating in a blog hop that I was invited to by Charley Descoteaux called Seductive Studs and Sirens. It's a weekly blog hop for LGBT authors to post excerpts and spread the word! So if you're here from that wonderful place, hello and welcome!

For this week's blog hop, I guess I'll start with one of the books I already have published, One Two Three, Shatter. It's the prequel to my upcoming novel, One Two Three, Salvation. I've decided I'm going to do this with excerpts from both Kaleb's story-- Shatter-- and Kay's-- Salvation-- up until the release date.

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BLURB: Life was harsh and cruel to Kaleb Xander from very early on, and he was never given a moment's rest to breathe and recover from the misery. Once freed from years in a cage of wrath and perverted lust, he found the real world to be a mere step up from what he was used to. Abuse was simply coming in different guises and through new avenues now.

All it should take is one person to reach out their hand and save this lost soul--but Kaleb is more complicated than that. It'll take a miracle, and he's banking on someone to be just that for him before he gives it all up.

EXCERPT:
　　　　"I'm assuming you're the new bouncer Jeff keeps talking about?" Kaleb asked, quirking an eyebrow again as he wiped down the bar, and he watched Trent nod in affirmation. "Thought so."

　　　　"Do you not like me or somethin', dude?" the bouncer asked, and Kaleb scoffed, looking up incredulously.

　　　　"Dude, I barely know you," he said in a matter-of-fact tone, starting to straighten out glasses for the next rush. "It's not like I'm gonna be your best f*ckin' friend right off the bat. I'm not like that. Sorry if you thought I was."

　　　　"Fair 'nough." Trent nodded and folded his hands on the bar top. Kaleb noticed they were worker's hands, calloused but long and rather elegant for a male of the man's size. He looked away quickly, up into Trent's eyes.

"So what can I do for you?" he asked, assuming his normal position of leaning forward on the bar, keeping their eye contact.

　　　　That seemed to be an important part of customer service. It'd taken him a while to force himself to look up into people's eyes, to keep them there even when he felt like he was being totally analyzed and picked apart from the inside out. The very thought made him shift his shoulders.

　　　　"Yeah, just a beer. Sierra Pale Ale," Trent said with a nod.

　　　　"Don't get many orders for that particular draft," he remarked as he turned to draw the beer. It took a minute to get the liquid out, but it poured frothy and pale as the name promised.

　　　　"I don't like the heavier stuff," the bouncer explained as Kaleb slid him the glass.

"Makes sense, but I'm fond of the heavier stuff myself. Then again, I'll drink any beer as long as it's not light. That sh*t makes me f*ckin' gag like nobody's business."

One Two Three, Shatter available through Silver Publishing, Amazon, Barnes and Noble or AllRomance EBooks now!

New Novel Release!

I know I've been really quiet on this front, working a full-time job can do that to you, but I finally got the sequel to Kaleb's story picked up by Silver Publishing.

One Two Three, Salvation now has a cover and a tentative release date of September 7th, and I'm currently working on the first round of edits on it. It made me realize just how often I use the word 'was' in my manuscripts, and I've been going back and fixing it in my other stories as well.

Before I go off on that tangent, this is the beautiful cover for One Two Three, Salvation. I worked with the same cover artist that did One Two Three, Shatter, and I think she did just as great of a job. She had more of a challenge with this one because I was incredibly picky about my models, but it turned out wonderful in the end despite that.

Now, I've got to go dive back into my edits. I'll post more information as I get it. Cheers!

My First Nomination!

So I know I've been relatively quiet here lately, been doing editing and workshops to get my latest manuscript up to standard, but I just wanted to share this wonderful bit of good news that just came my way and it'd mean the world to me if you voted for my book. One Two Three, Shatter has been nominated for the GLBT Contemporary Romance section of The Romance Reviews' Best Books of 2012. This is my first ever nomination and I'm so honored. I'm in some great company too. Just click the button and follow the links to the voter page. You do have to log in to vote, though, because the system tracks the voting that way. Thanks guys!

Next Big Thing Pt. 2

So I got tagged for this puppy again, this time by Erin O'Quinn. Since the other one was NaNo-related, I figured I'd do this one for one that I'm about ready to publish.

1) What is the working title of your current/next book? Kill To Believe.

2) Where did you get the idea for that book? Honestly, I can't remember! It just sort of came up one day. I wrote the first draft a couple years ago. It was a prequel of sorts to another story I wrote but will probably never publish called Impress Me.

3) What's the genre of the book? Noir, crime, M/M romance/erotica.

4) If you could pick actors to play the lead characters in your story, who would you pick? Oh Lord, this is a difficult one. Nathan would probably be played by Brad Pitt, Snatch and Se7en-era. Mike, possibly Cillian Murphy? He might be a little bit too moody for his character, though. For Charlie, I'd have to say Mark Wahlberg.

5) How would you describe your book in one sentence (10 words or less)? Nathan's been through violence, but Mike's a whole different animal.

6) (a) How will your book be published, submitted through the traditional route to a traditional publisher or will you be handling it yourself through Indie Publishing methods? (b) If you're an Indie Author, will you be publishing through your own Indie Publishing company or in a collective with other Indie Authors? I've got it submitted to Total-e-Bound Publishing right now and they're looking it over. :)

7) How long did it take you to write the first draft of this book? A few months, I believe.

8) What other books within your genre are similar to yours? Hmm, another good question. I'd have to say Scarlet Blackwell's Fade To Black.

9) Who or what inspired you to write this book? Honestly, it started with me reading one of Scarlet Blackwell's stories. She's always been a source of inspiration for me.

10) What about your book will pique the reader's interest? If you like dark story-lines, a little crime and guns in your romance, and intense erotica, this novel is for you.

I'm tagging Samantha Kay, Kate Vines

Jan Bowles - Erotic Romance Writer: Guest Blogger: Joey James Hook ~ Erotic Romance Au...

I did a guest blog spot on Jan Bowles' prolific blog. Thanks so much for the opportunity, Jan! :)

Jan Bowles - Erotic Romance Writer: Guest Blogger: Joey James Hook ~ Erotic Romance Au...: Today we have erotic romance writer Joey James Hook . He writes gritty m/m romance novels that are already causing quite a stir. One Two Thr...

Day 25: First Day Of Winning

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I've officially won this year, and with not a bad word count, if I do say so myself! This is great, considering before this, I'd been in a complete slump writing-wise. I hadn't written anything all summer because I'd been at home with my parents and hadn't had any sort of inspiration around me-- except about eight thousand words of a WIP zombie-apocalypse story that I plan to revisit sometime soon-- and then in November something just clicked and I haven't been able to stop writing since! It's liberating, it really is.

The biggest issue I'm going to end up having is the fact that I now have so many WIPs and I also have so many finished novels that need a good, thorough second-draft editing, and with so many different ideas for new stories in my head, it's hard to commit myself to doing a hardcore edit of the things I've already written. This is something I've always had a bit of trouble with, though, so I'm not too surprised.

Anyway, that's my winner's bar for this year's NaNo! I'm very excited about it and proud.

Introspect: Bane of My Existence

I think the hardest thing about being a published author is looking back on work you've done years past-- published or not-- and realizing how much better you could have made it if you'd been patient enough to write the stories when you had the skill and experience to execute them more effectively.

Take Kaleb's story for example. When I wrote it, I thought it was the most intense story I'd ever written. I frequently called it my masterpiece and I didn't think I'd ever be able to top it. Then, about a month ago a reviewer pointed out that with that story, not only did I leave questions unanswered, I pulled back in the more poignant parts and wrote it like it was in a third person point of view instead of Kaleb's, and it took away some of the power of the emotional scenes. That's something I try not to do now, and I'm more aware of it because of that comment and just growing as an author, I just wish I'd waited and rewritten Kaleb's story until I had more faculties, more ability to put emotion into writing.

I learn a lot every time I publish something, and I think through publishing something I thought was my masterpiece, I found a story that was similarly worth telling without the sheer amount of angst. Kaleb's story is one angst after another until he settles down, but the one I'm working on now isn't that way. Kay's more or less just a normal young adult who, sure, had a different upbringing than most people, but it doesn't ever cause him angst.

I think it's a little bit funny that Kaleb and Kay have about the same amount of words to their stories, but Kaleb's is all in one novel and Kay's is spanning three now. I should have broken Kaleb's story up into more than one novel, because there was so much more about his life that I could have touched on, some less intense and some more. Live and learn, I suppose.

I feel the same with my novel, Phoenix. I could probably write that novel so much better now if I'd waited to publish it. I could have given Blake an intensity that I hadn't managed when I wrote it. I do have a sequel in mind for that world, but it's on the backburner. It's almost funny, how different the writing is going to be between the two sequels.