Rob Colton's Blog, page 20
August 14, 2013
The Ranch Foreman now available!
The Ranch Foreman is now available for purchase!
You can now purchase it at the following locations:
Amazon.com and the Kindle Store
August 12, 2013
My Tour Schedule
Here is the tour schedule for my upcoming guest posts. I’ll try to share something new about The Ranch Foreman with each post.
August 12 - Kim Fielding
August 13 - MA Church’s Decadent Delights
August 14 - Release Day!
August 15 - Pants Off Reviews
August 17 - Night Tempest
August 18 - Cia’s Stories
August 19 - Lane Hayes
August 22 - Andrew Q. Gordon
August 26 - Charley Descoteaux
August 30 - Chris T. Kat
"The Ranch Foreman" Inspiration
Join me over at Kim Fielding’s blog where I talk about the inspiration for The Ranch Foreman, including an exclusive excerpt.
http://kfieldingwrites.blogspot.com/2013/08/please-welcome-rob-colton.html
August 10, 2013
"The Degan Incident" eBook Release
The Degan Incident is now available for purchase in both ebook and printed format!
The ebook is now available via the GayAuthors.org ebook store and from All Romance eBooks. It will be available soon through the iBookstore and the Kindle bookstore.
The paperback edition can be purchased directly from Amazon’s CreateSpace store.
Available in eBook from:
GayAuthors.org
AllRomanceEbooks.com
Available in Paperback from:
CreateSpace.com (publisher direct)
Amazon.com
August 8, 2013
"The Ranch Foreman" Preview
Enjoy an excerpt from my upcoming novella The Ranch Foreman. It will be available next Wednesday, August 14th from Dreamspinner Press.
Blurb:
When Madison “Matty” Ward finds himself out of work and without a place to live, his cousin comes through with a job on the Gates cattle ranch. Despite not knowing anything about herding cattle or taking care of horses, Matty does his best to impress the older hunky foreman, Baxter Hollingsworth. Baxter is drawn to the new young hand, but he’s deeply closeted, and after an openly gay veterinarian shows he’s interested in Matty, Baxter’s repressed feelings lead to an explosive encounter. Baxter then withdraws—leaving Matty feeling angry and used—until an accident forces him to confront his fears.
Excerpt:
“I swear,” Brian said quietly while shaking his head. “I have never seen Baxter so riled up.”
“Can we talk about something else, please?” Matty asked impatiently as he spread fresh sawdust and straw on the floor of Chestnut’s stall. All anyone could talk about for the past week was the fight—if you could call a one-sided ass-kicking a fight—and Clyde getting fired.
The hands seemed to have come to the conclusion that Clyde had hit on Baxter’s girl. Matty scoffed and rolled his eyes at the very thought. Little did they know. Only he, Brian, and Baxter knew the real reason. Though Matty wondered if Fred Gates suspected something.
“What?” asked Brian.
“What what?”
“What was up with that noise and the eye rolls?”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing my ass.” Brian’s posture stiffened suddenly. “Shit,” he mumbled under his breath. “Baxter’s coming, and he looks pissed. Gotta go.”
“When doesn’t he look pissed?” Matty asked, but Brian had already scrambled out of the barn’s back door.
Matty couldn’t blame him for taking off like that. Baxter had been in a cranky mood all week. He was even more quiet than usual. When he wasn’t snapping at people and biting their heads off, that is.
Baxter entered the barn carrying a large, bruised apple in his fist. He froze in step and looked at Matty with surprise, quickly pushing the fruit into his jacket pocket. “What are you doing here?”
“Stable boy.” Matty pointed at himself with a thumb, then tapped the pitchfork on the concrete floor. “Pitchfork. Do the math.”
“Don’t get smart with me.”
“Then don’t ask stupid questions.”
“You got some mouth on you, boy.”
Matty raised an eyebrow. “I bet you say that to all the boys.”
Realizing the double meaning of his words, Baxter’s eyes darted away, and he quickly changed the subject. “You were supposed to be helping Miss Ethel today.”
“She asked me to help with tomorrow’s supper, not today.”
“Fine. I’m going in to the city.” He turned and walked away, but stopped at the doorway. Without looking back, he asked, “You wanna ride along?”
Matty so badly wanted to say yes. He knew what Baxter was really asking for. Maybe they could even do it in the truck and not inside the restroom. And Matty wanted to agree so bad it hurt. But Baxter would only have him when he was drunk or when there was a wall separating him from Matty. And that shit hurt.
He took a deep breath and tried to hold onto the last shreds of his pride. “I should stay here and finish this.”
Baxter left without a word.
To keep from running after the brawny cowboy, Matty gripped the pitchfork tight and returned to cleaning the stalls.
August 4, 2013
Guest Post: MA Church's "Shadows in the Night"
Please welcome guest poster MA Church to my site! Her latest novel is a paranormal shapeshifter romance called Shadows in the Night.
Sometimes you grow to love the shadow that follows.
― Donna Lynn Hope
Hey everyone! I’m M.A. Church and I’m here to talk about my latest book called Shadows in the Night from Dreamspinner, which was released July 12th. It’s a paranormal/shifter novel that focuses on a modern man, named Chip, who has 21st century values. Chip lives in a time when equality is slowly making its way across the nation. He’s used to modern conveniences and isn’t afraid to stand up for what he believes in.
Can such a man come to care for Jason, a Native American shifter, who has lived since Time marched across the land we now call America? He witnessed the horrors, firsthand, when the white man came to their shores. Jason lived at a time when ‘survival of the fittest’ wasn’t just a catch phrase. He was once a strong warrior, a fierce Indian brave, who had no understanding of things such as equal rights. Has Time taught him anything?
When these two worlds collide, who will be the winner? Can the Native American shifter learn the ways of this new culture? But… can Chip accept there are beings out there that are… less than human? Will Jason be able to treat Chip as an equal? And lol, will Chip let Jason do anything else, for that matter? Can Jason accept a ‘white man’ as his mate?
And more importantly, can Jason keep Chip safe from another shifter who has murder on his mind?
SHADOWS IN THE NIGHT
~A Leap of Faith Novel
Blurb:
When Chip Riley’s beloved granny passes away, she leaves him all her money, her land, and a house that needs some tender love and care. She never mentioned the legacy comes with a Native American shifter who intends to claim Chip as his mate.
Jason Sky has lived since buffalo roamed the land. When his totem spirit, a black cougar, saves a little girl, he doesn’t realize that generations later, her grandson will become his mate, leaving him to take on a modern man with modern ideas. But that’s the least of his problems.
Garon, another shifter with a long-held hatred for Jason, plots to kidnap Chip and lure Jason to his death. Soon Chip finds himself in an untenable position between a rock and a hard place. A leap of faith may be the only way to save himself and the man he’s learned to love.
Pages: 200
Cover Artist: L.C. Chase
eBook: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=3990
Paperback: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=3991
ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-shadowsinthenight-1230863-145.html
Excerpt:
Panting for air, Chip stared at the animal. The thing was freaking huge, black as night, and bleeding all over his porch from a bite on the back of its leg. To make matters even more interesting, it was lying in front of the door. Now what?
“Okay, Plan B.”
Chip sidestepped to the left, moving slowly. Hadn’t he read somewhere not to make eye contact—cats took that as a sign of aggression? Or was that dogs? Did it matter at this point? The cat was bigger than he was and had long, sharp teeth and claws—enough said. Maybe if he could ease around to the back door—
Calmly the creature lifted a paw and cleaned the blood from its muzzle. Eyes trained on Chip, it let out a loud warning yip, then slammed its paw down.
“Son of a….” Chip yelped as he cleared the ground in fright. Once he had his feet planted safely back on Mother Earth—and his heart crammed back into his chest—he glanced at the black cougar. Now it was tending the bite to its haunch. Again, Chip edged toward the back of the house and another loud yip sounded, stopping him in his tracks. But the big cat climbing to its feet made the air in his lungs freeze. With a grace that belied the pain it had to be in, it jumped off the porch.
Feet rooted to the ground, Chip watched as the cougar, rumbling deep in its chest, blocked the path to the back of the house. He risked all and made eye contact. Holding his eyes, the black cougar turned its head, slowly looking at the front door. Cutting its gaze back at him, it huffed out a breath. Chip, mouth hanging open, stared at the big cat.
Oh no, it did not just…!
Chip side-stepped again, and the animal’s tail swished on the ground and again it slammed its paw down. Once more, it yipped at him.
Oh yes, it just did.
“That’s it, I’ve flipped completely out. Heat stroke combined with sheer fright has fried my brain.” Why the hell does it want me to go in the front door? Did I really just think that? Chip flinched as the cat stepped nearer. “Okay! Front door it is. Then a phone call to the local shrink, ’cause I’ve lost my damn mind.”
Chip walked backward; he was not taking his eyes off that wild animal. And damn if it wasn’t following him. At last he reached the porch and had to turn around or trip. Jumping on the porch, he dug in his pocket for his keys. The thump of the big cat landing behind him caused him to go light-headed and made his hand shake. The smell of crushed grass, wild animal, and something more pronounced—a woodsy musk—enveloped him.
“Get the door open, Chip. Now,” he mumbled to himself as he dug his keys out of his front pocket. He stabbed the key at the lock. Why the hell did they make these things so damn small? Didn’t the stupid manufacturers understand that being ordered by a big-assed cat weighing more than him and standing waist high was a fucking tad unnerving? Thank God he hadn’t locked the deadbolt. Just as he slid his key in, a low, vicious growl sounded behind him.
Chip closed his eyes, assaulted by visions of his body torn to bits. Glancing over his shoulder—prepared to look death in the eye—he instead found the big cat staring at the woods. Its ears were laid low, tail twitching madly, and hair bristling. It dawned on Chip the black cougar had its body between him and woods, almost as if it was… guarding him.
Was that other cat out there?
With a hiss, the big cat stepped away from Chip, backed up to one of the pillars, and arched its tail….
“Oh come on. Not with the spraying again!”
The smell of urine flooded the area as the black cougar turned its head and balefully eyed Chip. Looking back at the woods, it let loose a scream that had every hair on Chip’s body standing up. But the answering call made him light-headed.
Something was out there.
A not-so-gentle nudge nearly knocked Chip off his feet but got his attention. The damn animal was herding him indoors. Throwing the door open, he scrambled inside and slammed it shut. He quickly locked the door. When that didn’t make him feel any more secure, he used his keys to lock the deadbolt.
“Oh God, oh God….”
His mind was in an uproar—mainly because he had company. The big cat had trailed him into the house. He’d tried to keep it out, but it just shoved its way inside. Stunned, he watched the black cougar limp across the floor toward the kitchen. Unsure what else to do, Chip stood by the door. Should he… should he grab his shotgun? Stay frozen by the door? Completely panic? Jesus, now what? Instead of having a tiger by the tail, he had a cougar underfoot. A very large cougar that didn’t exist.
“Okay, shit. Now what?”
Instinct told him to grab his shotgun, but honestly, the animal hadn’t tried to hurt him. If he wasn’t mistaken, it had protected him. Freaked him out, sure, but defended him. Curiosity, and yes, trepidation, had Chip following the animal into the kitchen to find the damn thing headfirst in the sink, trying to turn on the touch faucet. Chip locked both locks on the backdoor too. Yes, he’d just locked himself in with a large wild animal, but the one outside scared him more. Kind of.
“You thirsty?”
The cougar’s tail swished as it looked back at him, then tapped the spout. Unable to believe what he’d just seen, he watched the cougar drink. It was as if it knew how to turn the faucet on. His eyes traveled down the length of the animal. Holy hell, he had no idea these animals got so enormous… and intelligent. Much too intelligent.
“Ah, um, if you’ll back up some, I’ll see if I can find a water bowl.”
The big cat settled on his haunches. Chip found a large plastic bowel under the cabinet and filled it with water. His uninvited guest acted as if it understood him, but that was impossible. Wasn’t it? Of course it was. Chip set the bowl on the floor and dropped into a kitchen chair as the cougar quenched its thirst. Once done, it curled up on the floor and resumed cleaning its coat.
How the hell was he supposed to get this animal out of his house? Especially since it acted as if it wasn’t ready to leave. Not that it mattered; he was not opening the door right now, not with whatever else was out there. Chip rested his hand on his chin. And what was the scent? He had smelled it earlier when the big cat crowded him into the front door. It reminded him of another scent, but his scrambled mind couldn’t place where he’d smelled it.
Maybe in the morning he should take his shotgun and do a little exploring. Then again, he was really more of a city boy. As Chip sat at the kitchen table, his uninvited houseguest curled on the floor, head resting on its paws, eyes closed. Every move Chip made had the cougar’s ears twitching toward him. Nearly half an hour had passed, and Chip’s ass ached from the hard kitchen chair. To add to his discomfort, his stomach was gnawing. After a particularly loud grumble, the animal’s eyes blinked opened, and the big cat stretched its long body. Sharp claws extended from the pads of the cougar’s paws, and then it came to its feet. Chip gulped at the sight.
“Jesus, you need a trim.”
The animal looked at him and yawned, displaying long, deadly canines. Chip swallowed hard again. He had a predator sitting at his feet, eyeing him. What if he wasn’t the only one hungry? Chip gripped the table as the cat stepped closer to him, whiskers twitching. Then the creature turned and padded over to the refrigerator, rubbing against it. Chip shook his head. Talk about your not-so-subtle hints. He slowly stood, waiting to see what the big cat would do. Unconcerned, it moved into the living area and made its way around the room, stopping at each window.
“Damn thing acts like it’s checking the windows and stuff.”
Since the cougar was occupied, he grabbed the prime cut of streak he’d planned to grill for dinner later in the week. Better to sacrifice the steak than have the animal sample his prime cut. With that thought in mind, he decided steak would be the only meat he fixed. No point in tempting Fate. Turning his back, he quickly prepared a bag of prepackaged salad and dumped blue cheese dressing over it. When he turned back, he came face to face with the big cat, who was sitting on the bar.
“Sweet baby Jesus!” Chip yelped.
Author bio:
M.A. Church
M.A. Church lives in the southern United States and spent many years in the elementary education sector. She is married to her high school sweetheart and they have two children. Her hobbies are gardening, walking, attending flea markets, watching professional football, racing, and spending time with her family on the lake.
But her most beloved hobby is reading. From an early age, she can remember hunting for books at the library. Later nonhuman and science fiction genres captured her attention and drew her into the worlds the authors had created. But always at the back of her mind was the thought that one day, when the kids were older and she had more time, she would write a book.
By sheer chance she stumbled across a gay male romance story on the web and was hooked. A new world opened up and she fell in love. Thus the journey started. When not writing or researching, she enjoys reading the latest erotic and mainstream romance novels.
My links:
Blog http://machurch00.blogspot.com
Twitter @nomoretears00
Facebook: M.A. Church http://www.facebook.com/pages/MA-Chur…
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5141393.M_A_Church
July 30, 2013
Guest Post: Tali Spencer's "Thick as Thieves"
Please welcome guest poster Tali Spencer to my site. Her new book Thick as Thieves features swords, sorcery and a big brawny barbarian. Good stuff!
Today Tali is letting us in on the secret to how she comes up with the names for her characters and places.
Thanks, Rob, for letting me stop by to visit. I’m going to share an excerpt from my latest book, but first I want to talk about the fine art of naming characters and places. Most authors put a great deal of thought into names—and every author ends up with some kind of system that reflects their unique approach to character and world-building.
I get character names from three main sources: telephone books and graduation programs, name lists I have collected over the years, and Captcha. Here’s how I use each.
The White Pages are almost dead, but not for me. I have a Milwaukee phone book circa 1990 that I have used forever. Hundreds of thousands of names, and some of them are exotic. Although a hefty tome, it fits comfortably on my writing side table along with a handful of graduation programs from the ethnically diverse universities from which my three sons graduated. Not only are the graduates listed, but the professors. Again, a rich trove of names, first and last and in-between, ready to mixed and jumbled and used by my characters. These sources are especially good for contemporary stories, but I use them for my speculative fiction stories on occasion.
Name lists are great. I’ve been collecting them for decades. My first were the little name books I bought when pregnant and which have little stars beside the names I contemplated for my offspring. I later added name books for specific ethnic groups or other uses: Celtic Baby Names, 200 Exotic Names for Your Cat, Nombres Aymara. When I travel, I look for name or history books. But wait, there’s more! I have also been printing up name lists I find online: Roman, Greek, Moghul, Mongol, Gothic, Visigoths, Finnish, Basque, Malay, Viking, dragons, famous horses, the names of the Knights Templar, Sumerian, etc. I have a file drawer full of nothing but printed lists of names and places I’ve collected. Lately, though, I’ve taken to bookmarking name lists on my computer. In my novel Thick as Thieves, I found Vorgell’s name on a list of Manx names (a female name, but I liked it) and Maddog is an old Welsh name.
As for my third source… gosh, I love Captcha! I know, it’s pain in the ass when making comments. I have it turned off on my blog at the moment. But those crazy Captcha words are great for fantasy! I keep a legal pad on my desk and every time I see a Captcha with possibilities, I write it to my list. Here are some names in Thick as Thieves that came from Captcha: Ibeena, Reannry, Flemgu, Aregho, Scur (originally Remscur, but I shortened it) and Thencu Lestre.
Where do you find names for your characters? And if you see any great Captcha names, you now know where to send them.
Here’s the blurb and a short scene from Thick as Thieves, a sword and sorcery romp with a perpetually horny barbarian, an unaccommodating male witch, and magic.
Blurb:
After Vorgell the barbarian fucks himself with a unicorn horn, he ends up in a cell with Maddog, a pretty young thief. It’s lust at first sight for Vorgell—but honestly, he can’t help it. Unicorn horn is a potent aphrodisiac, and now he can’t stop thinking about sex. Luckily, Madd is one male witch who knows how to put Vorgell’s new magical body to good use when he tricks Vorgell into a kiss that helps them escape.
Vorgell may desire sex in general—and Madd in particular—but Madd has no intention of being screwed by a man twice his size. He has problems of his own, including an enchanted collar that causes him to desire his most hated enemy. He wants that collar off as soon as possible, but that requires stealing a basilisk egg from the castle they just escaped.
Drawn together by lust and magic, the two men join forces and soon find themselves up to their necks in witches, wizards, and trouble. Vorgell and Madd might just be perfect for each other, but first they have to survive long enough to find out.
Excerpt:
Buildings in this part of the city pressed close to the street, and the alleys were narrow. They ran until the crowd thinned and they could no longer hear the shrieks and cries of the still-blinded onlookers. Even with that in their favor, they could not return to their room. Too many people had seen them. Fortunately, neither of them owned enough yet to have left any possessions behind.
Barely avoiding the contents of a chamber pot being dumped into the alley, they slowed to a walk and recovered their breaths. The sun had dropped low enough that a few rays pierced the clouds and cast the alleyway in shadow.
“That was close.” Madd shook his head, his cheeks flushed prettily from exertion. He still clutched the bundle they’d gotten from Ibeena, his fingers curled anxiously into the thick hide. Beads of sweat trickled near his ear. A wild impulse to lick those drops swept through Vorgell, and he pushed Madd in one rough movement against the nearest building. Madd looked up at him in alarm.
“Are you all right?” Vorgell bent near to breathe more deeply of the masculine scent of sweat and skin. He could feel Madd’s body casting off heat, and he wanted nothing more in the world than to feel his skin slide slick and wet against the other man’s.
“What’s wrong with you? Of course I’m all right. You’re the one who was fighting! I’m surprised you’re not bleeding!”
Madd was still breathing hard, but he didn’t try to struggle out of Vorgell’s grip on his shoulders. Vorgell moved close, only stopped short by his cock—erect again—touching Madd’s belly.
He smiled at the glare he received for that trespass. “I’m glad you didn’t run away after all. If you’d run, I might have lost you. I rather like having a partner.”
His words earned him a smirk of triumph. “The moonblind trick worked pretty well, didn’t it?”
Vorgell could barely breathe he was so ensnared by Madd’s dark eyes, shining and lined with a fringe of thick lashes. The moon, not the sun, glowed in those liquid depths. Everything about the young witch male invited thoughts of bedsheets and night and the tender joys of the flesh. Vorgell was torn between wanting to keep this man safe and wanting to plunder him like a lovesick swain.
“They might still be looking for us,” Madd said. “I suggest we keep moving.”
Author Bio
Tali Spencer fell in love with writing at an early age and never stopped. Thanks to a restless father, she grew up as a bit of a nomad and still loves to travel whenever she can. Her longest stint in one place was Milwaukee where she went to college and enjoyed a series of interesting careers including respiratory therapist, airport executive, and raising three surprisingly well-adjusted sons. She later married her true love and put down new roots in Philadelphia, where she lives in an ongoing Italian American family sitcom. At least she’s learned how make good pasta. When not writing, Tali reads everything from sweet goofy romances to Lebanese cookbooks, manages her fantasy football team—go Gekkos!—and takes long walks with her loving, if slightly neurotic, poodle.
Visit Tali’s blog at http://talismania-brilliantdisguise.blogspot.com
E-mail: tali.spencer1@gmail.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tali.spencer
Twitter: @tali_spencer
Buy Thick as Thieves:
http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=4002
https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-thickasthieves-1228425-143.html
http://www.amazon.com/Thick-as-Thieves-ebook/dp/B00DTNALTK/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1373317387&sr=8-5&keywords=tali+spencer
July 20, 2013
Reminder: "The Degan Incident" Discussion Live
This month’s book club selection at GayAuthors.org is “The Degan Incident."
Check out the interview and join in on the discussion. The interview also contains a little preview for the story’s upcoming sequel!
http://www.gayauthors.org/forums/blog/258/entry-13738-csr-discussion-day-the-degan-incident-by-rob-colton/
At the end of the month, the story is moving into the GayAuthors.org Premium Section. At that time, you’ll be able to buy it in ebook format or as a printed book.
You can read the story for free at http://www.gayauthors.org/story/rob-colton/thedeganincident
Reminder: "The Degan Incident" Discussion
This month’s book club selection at GayAuthors.org is “The Degan Incident."
There will be an interview and discussion day on July 29th.
At the end of the month, the story is moving into the GayAuthors.org Premium Section. At that time, you’ll be able to buy it in ebook format or as a printed book.
For now you can read the story for free at http://www.gayauthors.org/story/rob-colton/thedeganincident
July 17, 2013
Coming Soon: "The Ranch Foreman"
The Ranch Foreman
Coming August 14th 2013 from Dreamspinner Press!
When Madison “Matty” Ward finds himself out of work and without a place to live, his cousin comes through with a job on the Gates cattle ranch. Despite not knowing anything about herding cattle or taking care of horses, Matty does his best to impress the older hunky foreman, Baxter Hollingsworth. Baxter is drawn to the new young hand, but he’s deeply closeted, and after an openly gay veterinarian shows he’s interested in Matty, Baxter’s repressed feelings lead to an explosive encounter. Baxter then withdraws—leaving Matty feeling angry and used—until an accident forces him to confront his fears.
https://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=4093
