Rick R. Reed's Blog, page 63

TWO SIDES OF A COIN: The Horror Me and the Romance Me

Note: This post originally appeared at OnTopDownUnder Reviews.

The public sometimes sees two of me—one is the “Stephen King of gay horror” and that me writes books like A Demon Inside , Blood Sacrifice , and Third Eye . This Stephen King character is grizzled, bearded, and grumpy. You don’t want to meet up with him in a dark alley.
The other me is much lighter, in terms of psyche. That me is a gay romance writer. This guy, who is clean-shaven, has a smile for everyone, and is generally in a good mood, writes love stories like Chaser , Legally Wed , Caregiver and Dinner at Home .
These two me’s have seldom been left alone in a room together and when they have they have managed to produce books that are a hybrid of the two, books like The Blue Moon Café and Bashed . Those two combine the sometimes-at-odds with the other combination of horror and romance.
For the first time ever, the two me’s sat down in a café in Seattle’s free-spirited Fremont neighborhood (neutral territory because the horror me likes the big troll statue living under one end of the Aurora Bridge—see picture). In order to keep things, um, straight, the following interview uses HM to indicate Horror Me and RM to indicate Romance Me. And yes, you can romance me, anytime….
HM: So what are you doing here? Must you show up everywhere I want to be? Christ, I can’t get a moment by myself.RM: Sorry, but it’s a free country. I can be anywhere I want. What’s that? A cappuccino?HM (rolls eyes): It’s a black coffee. Drip.RM: Well, I’m having the crème brulee latte.HM: You would (snorts).RM: I detect a note of disdain here.HM: Well, there’s more than a note, Miss. Why are you sitting down at my table? Did I invite you?RM: No, but I belong here as much as you do.HM: Getting back to the disdain, I have disdain for you because you are taking over my personality and stealing my reputation. Before you happened along with your little love stories, I was doing quite well for myself writing about blood, gore, and things that go bump in the night. You know, mapping out nightmare territory. I had my author photos taken in cemeteries. People knew me for throwing a good scare into them.RM: And they still know you for that, which is something you’d realize if you took a good, hard look at yourself. But I am here to tell you there is room for more than one writer under this rapidly-thinning head of hair.HM: But why? Why romance? It’s the antithesis of everything I stood for.RM: Not really. Romance, like horror, is ultimately about strong emotion. Fear, like love, is universal. So, we are not as different as you’d like to think. HM: I’m not so sure about that. I write about people being killed, people being haunted, monsters, ghouls. I don’t see how that’s much like your la-di-da romance tales.RM: Think of the emotions involved. The rising sense of excitement, the increased heart rate and perspiration, the breathlessness. All of those are present with both fear and passion.HM: Okay, I get it. I get it. But does that mean you still have to step on my toes? You’re ruining my reputation.RM: Just like with love, sweetheart, there’s room for variety, for harmony. I think we can coexist.HM: But you seem so much more powerful lately. Just look at the books that have come from you over the past year.RM: You’re right.HM: Why is that?RM (pausing to consider and take a sip of his latte): Maybe it’s because I’ve reached a different place in my life. I’ve reached a place where the stories I want to tell are about something other than the terror that life can bring, but the joy that life can bring, too.
See, for years, when you were really my dominant force, I was consumed with finding love in my own life. And I came close many times, for one reason or another, it never worked out. That is, until I met Bruce. He was the one. The perfect fit. The soul mate. The one with whom I can’t imagine not spending the rest of my days.
Once I was secure in my own personal romance, only then was I free to write about others’. Does that make sense? I needed to confront my fears (not just the ghastly, curl-your-hair ones), but the ones about being alone, about maybe never making that connection that was more than just passion, but family.
HM doesn’t say anything for a long while. He sips his coffee and eyes me, like I’m some sort of alien—not the illegal kind, but an invader from another planet. The kind he might write about. For a moment, I am afraid, he will fling the coffee into my face, but then a strange thing happens—he begins to fade away, just like the ghosts in the stories he used to pen.
Just as he’s about to disappear completely, he stops in mid-transformation and eyes me.HM: I get you. You were who I always wanted to be. But, although I am fading away before your very eyes, I am not disappearing.
I am merging with you.
Bashed BlurbIt should have been a perfect night out. Instead, Mark and Donald collide with tragedy when they leave their favorite night spot. That dark October night, three gay-bashers emerge from the gloom, armed with slurs, fists, and an aluminum baseball bat.

The hate crime leaves Donald lost and alone, clinging to the memory of the only man he ever loved. He is haunted, both literally and figuratively, by Mark and what might have been. Trapped in a limbo offering no closure, Donald can’t immediately accept the salvation his new neighbor, Walter, offers. Walter’s kindness and patience are qualities his sixteen-year-old nephew, Justin, understands well. Walter provides the only sense of family the boy’s ever known. But Justin holds a dark secret that threatens to tear Donald and Walter apart before their love even has a chance to blossom.

Buy Links
Dreamspinner Ebook.
Dreamspinner Paperback.
Amazon Kindle.
Amazon Paperback.
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Good Karma, Good Books: Remembrance by Ravon Silvius

Good Karma, Good Books: Remembrance by Ravon SilviusEvery Wednesday, I put on my pimp clothes (I favor feathered hats and zebra prints
with a little crushed velvet) and help promote the new or old work of some of my favorite fellow authors. Be sure to stop by every week and see what’s new. 

This week, I’m all about "Remembrance" by Ravon Silvius.

Here’s what Ravon says about " Remembrance :"

Remembrance is the most unique book I've worked on, and one that reflects my ongoing attempt to explore cyborgs in fiction and what it means to be human. Its also part of a larger universe of books I've written that all explore this same theme.

BLURB
The war is over. The majority of humanity has fled the dying planet to live in space, leaving behind a chemical called Overgrowth that will speed up the restoration of the war torn world.

Some were left behind, and not all by choice. As one chapter of humanity comes to a close, a soldier who thought he had nothing left and a historian who sees potential even in destruction will make a life out of what remains.

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From the publisher, Extasy Books

COVER REVEAL: TRICKS (Now Available for Pre-order!)

I'm totally stoked to reveal the cover for my upcoming gay romance set in Chicago's Boystown, TRICKS  from Dreamspinner Press. The cover, I think you'll agree, is gorgeous: the super-talented Reese Dante designed it and I bow down to the amazing magic she works (and thank my lucky stars she's been in my corner for several books now!).

The book, an opposites-attract love story about a nice but nerdy hunk and the stripper he falls for, will officially release on October 12, but you can pre-order it now at Dreamspinner Press.

PRE-ORDER
Paperback: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=6949 
ebook: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=6948 

BLURB
Tricks can mean many things: sex partners, deceptions, even magic—or maybe all three. 



Arliss is a gorgeous young dancer at Tricks, the hottest club in Chicago's Boystown. Sean is the classic nerd, out of place in Tricks, but nursing his wounds from a recent breakup. When the two spy each other, magic blooms.

But this opposites-attract tale does not run smooth. What happens when Arliss is approached by one of the biggest porn producers in the business? Can he make his dreams of stardom come true without throwing away the only real love he’s ever known? This question might not even matter if the mysterious producers realize their dark intentions.

1st Edition published by MLR Press, 2010.

PRE-ORDER
Paperback: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=6949 
ebook: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=6948 

NOTE: Pre-order the paperback today or tomorrow, Sept 15 and get it for 30% off! Going to GRL 2015? Price includes free shipping to the event in San Diego, where I can autograph it for you! 

PLEASE FEEL FREE TO REPOST THIS BLOG! 

THROWBACK THURSDAY: Homecoming

Every Thursday, I use this blog to highlight a title from my list of books and stories already out there that you might have missed. This week, I'm throwing back to HOMECOMING , a story that shows there can be love after loss. One Amazon reviewer said:

"This is absolutely my favorite kind of story. The kind that takes me on a roller coaster ride and can make me cry, turn me on, and cause me to grip my e-reader more tightly before the uncertainty passes and I can finally breathe a sigh of relief. And it's a hard combo to come by, because not many books actually make me cry. Get emotional? A little misty? Sure. But out and out sobbing like a child? Not likely, but this book did."

WIN A FREE COPY!Leave a comment below to win a free copy of  HOMECOMING . Winner will be announced next Wednesday, September 16.
BLURBAfter losing his partner Toby, Chase faces a long, painful road back to life and love. At first, he doesn’t see how he can go on, but then Chase and Toby’s old friend Mike cajoles him into returning to Chicago for the annual International Mr. Leather Competition. There Chase revisits a world of hot, casual sex that he had forgotten existed, meets a friend who cares more for him than he ever realized, and discovers the possibility that he might yet find his way home.

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Read an excerpt from  HOMECOMING  here.

Good Karma, Good Books: More than a Suit: John by J.D. Walker

Every Wednesday, I put on my pimp clothes (I favor feathered hats and zebra prints with a little crushed velvet) and help promote the new or old work of some of my favorite fellow authors. Be sure to stop by every week and see what’s new. 

This week, I’m all about " More than a Suit: John " by J.D. Walker.

Here’s what J.D. says about " More than a Suit :"

In the first book of the More Than A Suit series, John DeWitt came across as someone who's main interest in life was sex, with work a close second.

 I felt there was more to his character, so I explored that in the second story of the series. It was important that John tell the world who he really was, and our assumptions about him be damned!

BLURB

John DeWitt loves men and sex, as well as his job as a junior analyst with EnerGen International. Wei Pearce, club owner and judgmental jerk extraordinaire, thinks John’s just a loose, brainless twit who’ll do anything to take more men into his bed, and treats him like a pariah.

John has to prove to Wei that he’s wrong about him, and when he does, sparks fly in the best way possible. But will those sparks burn through the barriers between John and Wei to forge something new and lasting?

BUY
Amber Quill
All Romance Ebooks
Amazon

THROWBACK THURSDAY: A quirky little HIV Love Story: NEG UB2

Every Thursday, I use this blog to highlight a title from my list of books and stories already out there that you might have missed. This week, I'm throwing back to one of a sequel to one of my very first happily-ever-after M/M love stories, VGL MALE SEEKS SAME. NEG UB2, the continuation of this story, brings in a complication that many real-life m/m couples face: a relationship where one partner is HIV+ and the other is not. For those of you who don't know, the acronym NEG UB2 stands for: negative, you be too; a common (and, I think, kind of cruel) shorthand in personals ads for weeding out the HIV+.  Shawn Decker , HIV activist and author of the amazing book, My Pet Virus, had this to say about NEG UB2: 

"There's no protection from Reed's quick wit and ability to craft a winning and thoroughly enthralling love story."

BLURBPoor Ethan Schwartz. It seems like he will never find that special someone. At age 42, he's still alone, his bed still empty, and his 42-inch HDTV overworked. He's tried the bars and other places where gay men are supposed to find one another, but for Ethan, it never works out. He wonders if it ever will. Should he get a cat? 

But all of that is about to change. At work, Ethan hears about a website that promises to deliver more than just the tawdry hook-ups associated with so many other sites. Ethan wants romance, and although he's always been a little shy about the whole cyber-dating scene, he figures he has nothing to lose. 


Well, maybe he does have something to lose: his self-esteem. After he posts his profile, he gets zero responses. But Ethan realizes one thing about the cyberworld that isn't true in the real one: Online, Ethan can be anyone he wants to be. 


And a new persona is born. The new Ethan is handsome (with someone else's pic) and the sudden recipient of dozens of online come-ons. What Ethan doesn't count on, however, is finding--among the propositions and the flattery--his one true love. Not just a gorgeous man, but one who suits him in almost every way. 


How does Ethan turn his budding cyber love into a real one? And can he hang on to his mystery suitor without turning him off with his deception? 

BUYAmazonAmber Allure (on sale now for 25% off!)
Read VGL MALE SEEKS SAME FirstAmazonAmber Allure (on sale now for 25% off!)
EXCERPT...A few words, bald and to the point, could start things. Ethan propelled himself forward, in both senses: he walked so he was standing closer to Brian, and willed himself to say the words gathered on the tip of his tongue.
“I forgot your birthday yesterday because I had bad news.”
Brian’s brow furrowed in concern and he began to reach out for Ethan. “What? What was it?” He was about to wrap his arms around Ethan, but Ethan stepped back just out of his grasp.
Ethan almost relented, seriously considering the prospect of procrastinating, just putting the whole mess off for another day when he saw the hurt expression darkening Brian’s feature as he stepped away from him, obviously not wanting to be touched. It was a first for the couple.
But Ethan knew what he must say next and almost without thinking, let the words trip off his tongue. “I went to the doctor yesterday.”
Brian’s face, if possible, became even more touched by pity and concern. It was breaking Ethan’s heart. “Are you okay?”
Ethan looked over Brian’s shoulder, toward the kitchen, steeling himself for the words that would come next. “It was a follow-up to my last check-up and—” Ethan bit his lower lip. Say it. Just say it. He let out a rush of air, on the tail end of which was the sentence: “And I found out, much to my surprise, I am HIV positive.” He returned his gaze to Brian, who stood stunned, mouth open and staring at him. Now that the words were out, it was a little easier and he continued. “My T-cells are at 380 and my viral load is around 12,000, whatever the hell those numbers mean. I just know they’re not good.”
Brian shook his head. “Babe, I’m so sorry.”
Ethan’s anger and hurt kicked in, suddenly, and with the force of a fire bursting into a conflagration. He had never experienced going from confusion and despair to rage so quickly. It was all he could do not to strike Brian, to punch the silly expression of concern stamping his features right off his face. How could you? How could you?
“Yeah,” Ethan said, a smile born of ire pulling up the corners of his mouth. “Yeah. You should be sorry. Did you just not tell me for a reason? Did you think maybe those few times we dispensed with a condom we’d just be lucky? Did you just get infected too? Maybe while you were with me?” Ethan spat the last words out, glaring at Brian, his breath quickened.
Brian shook his head. “Ethan, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Oh, please. Don’t.”
“Can we just sit down and discuss this? Sweetheart, I’m so sorry you’ve had this news, but it’ll be okay. There are treatments—”
“Oh, don’t patronize me. Don’t try to placate me. And no, I don’t want to sit down. I don’t want to discuss this.” As rapidly as the rage had come, so did the tears. Ethan angrily batted them away, not wanting Brian to see. “I was hoping you’d at least be enough of a human being to tell me the truth. I was hoping you’d at least be a man and own up to the truth.”
“What truth?”
“Oh, come on, Brian. There’s no one else who could have infected me. As the song goes: it had to be you.” Ethan almost laughed as he imagined doing his best Harry Connick, Jr. impersonation and singing a few lines from the old standard. But he was afraid if he started laughing, it would turn giddy and breathless, hysterical, and would never end.
Brian shook his head and Ethan noticed his ruddy complexion had faded to ash. “I don’t think I am.”
“What? What don’t you think you are?”
“Positive. If I didn’t believe that, I never would have made love to you without protection.”
Ethan didn’t know what to say. A new, and even more sickening possibility dawned on him: maybe Brian was telling the truth. Maybe he was just as newly infected as Ethan…and that would mean there was someone else. That the fidelity he had counted on and prized was nothing more than a sham, another self-deluding lie he had told himself in his pathetic quest for connection...
BUYAmazonAmber Allure (on sale now for 25% off!)
Read VGL MALE SEEKS SAME FirstAmazonAmber Allure (on sale now for 25% off!)

Good Karma, Good Books: When One Door Opens by JD Ruskin

Every Wednesday, I put on my pimp clothes (I favor feathered hats and zebra prints with a little crushed velvet) and help promote the new or old work of some of my favorite fellow authors. Be sure to stop by every week and see what’s new. 

This week, I’m recommending you try When One Door Opens, by the amazingly talented JD Ruskin.

Here’s what JD says about When One Door Opens:

"My central characters have very different backgrounds and very different life struggles. I liked the idea of them realizing they have more in common than they thought. My particular style of writing is an odd combination of humor, romance, and angst. I need all three to make me happy. Caleb and Logan have serious problems, but that doesn't mean there aren't moments for love and laughter.

"I have a personal connection to the character of Caleb, because I've experienced social anxiety and panic attacks, though not as severely as Caleb. It was really important to me to portray agoraphobia as accurately as I could. Love can't cure agoraphobia or alcoholism, but love can be the support people need to reach recovery. When I was researching agoraphobia, I read an article about a woman who died in a fire in Chicago because she refused to leave the building. The woman was agoraphobic. I remember being so shocked and saddened by this article. Imagine a fear so great that it can override your instinct for self-preservation. I'd never considered agoraphobia could be life threatening. Or how it can control people’s lives.

"I don't drink alcohol, which might seem strange considering Logan is an alcoholic. I made the decision not to drink when I was a teenager, because alcohol abuse runs in my family. I have no moral objection to adults imbibing, but you'd likely be shocked by the number of people who try to convince me to drink alcohol to this day. Many of them actually get offended when I turn them down. Logan has to resist the urge to drink while being surrounded by temptation. Ultimately, I believe we get our greatest strengths from those we love. Our will to fight for the life we deserve." 

BLURBLogan Sellers's parole officer has issued three commandments: stay sober, stay employed, and stay out of trouble. At first Logan thought those three simple rules would be easy to follow. But that was before he accepted a side job assisting his boss’s housebound agoraphobic nephew, Caleb.  Caleb is deceptively normal for a guy who hasn't left his apartment in three years, and his friendly, caring personality tugs on heartstrings Logan didn’t know he had. But hitting on his boss’s nephew is asking to be unemployed. Logan has enough problems with booze on every corner and a supervisor trying to jump into his bed. He doesn’t need to work out how to free Caleb from the anxiety that keeps him in his apartment; he needs to keep his nose clean, attend his AA meetings, and make a fresh start--alone.  If only his heart would get with the program.
BUYDreamspinner PressAmazon All Romance

Holding a Book in Your Hands: A DEMON INSIDE

The paperbacks of A DEMON INSIDE have arrived! This moment never gets old. And isn't Aaron Anderson's cover art gorgeous? 

Just a reminder: if you buy the paperback from DSP Publications, you get the ebook for free. 

BLURB
Hunter Beaumont doesn’t understand his grandmother’s deathbed wish: “Destroy Beaumont House.” He’s never even heard of the place. But after his grandmother passes and his first love betrays him, the family house in the Wisconsin woods looks like a tempting refuge. Going against his grandmother’s wishes, Hunter flees to Beaumont House. 

 But will the house be the sanctuary he had hoped for? Soon after moving in, Hunter realizes he may not be alone. And with whom—or what—he shares the house may plunge him into a nightmare from which he may never escape. Sparks fly when he meets his handsome neighbor, Michael Burt, a caretaker for the estate next door. The man might be his salvation… or he could be the source of Hunter's terror. 

BUY OPTIONS
Order the ebook from DSP Publications
Order the paperback from Dreamspinner Press (Deal: When you buy the paperback from the publisher, you get the ebook for free!)
Order the Kindle version from Amazon
Order the paperback from Amazon

GOOD KARMA, GOOD BOOKS: Conflicted by Louise Lyons

Every Wednesday, I put on my pimp clothes (I favor feathered hats and zebra prints with a little crushed velvet) and help promote the new or old work of some of my favorite fellow authors. Be sure to stop by every week and see what’s new. 

This week, I’m not conflicted at all about recommending Louise Lyon's Conflicted. 

Here’s what Louise has to say about Conflicted. :

"The title came to me more or less at the start of writing the story. Both characters, Paul and Greg, have a lot of conflict in their lives, from their initial fights with each other as they start out disliking one another, to their fears about whether to come out to friends and family. Paul's head is a mess due to the loss of family members, treatment by his father when he was younger, and anxiety about giving his heart to anyone so he himself is conflicted.

It's an expression that could also be applied to a period of my life during which I wrote this, when I had decisions to make on which direction to take in both professional and personal aspects of my life." 

BLURB Two competing gangs of car and drag racing enthusiasts with a shared history of pain and rivalry leading to outright hatred. Two men from opposite sides of the tracks, yet with more in common than they’d like to admit. 
Paul Appleton is a troubled man who has never been in a relationship, having lost everyone he cared for in his life. His mother died when he was very young and subsequently, he lost his brother and his best friend. Now Paul is convinced love will always end in tears. 
Greg was living on the streets after his parents died and was stabbed by a junkie, ending up in hospital. The Buchanans took Greg under their wing while doing charity work, and Greg joined their loving family when he was adopted. He and his siblings are also car enthusiasts with much more money and therefore better cars than Paul Appleton’s gang. 
When they eventually find a connection, Paul fights his feelings and tries to convince himself his lover is only a temporary bit of fun, but Greg has other ideas.
BUYAmazonAmazon UKAll RomanceBarnes & NobleDreamspinner Press

RELEASING TODAY: A Demon Inside

Today's the day! My unique blend of horror and m/m romance, A Demon Inside , is now out. Leave a comment in the space below (with a way of contacting you should you win) and I will drop your name in the giveaway box to win a FREE, SIGNED copy! Please note, contest is open only to US residents (international winners will get a free ebook copy).

What's A Demon Inside about?
Hunter Beaumont doesn’t understand his grandmother’s deathbed wish: “Destroy Beaumont House.” He’s never even heard of the place. But after his grandmother passes and his first love betrays him, the family house in the Wisconsin woods looks like a tempting refuge. Going against his grandmother’s wishes, Hunter flees to Beaumont House. 

 But will the house be the sanctuary he had hoped for? Soon after moving in, Hunter realizes he may not be alone. And with whom—or what—he shares the house may plunge him into a nightmare from which he may never escape. Sparks fly when he meets his handsome neighbor, Michael Burt, a caretaker for the estate next door. The man might be his salvation… or he could be the source of Hunter's terror.

How do I get a copy?
Order the ebook from DSP Publications
Order the paperback from Dreamspinner Press (Deal: When you buy the paperback from the publisher, you get the ebook for free!)
Order the Kindle version from Amazon

Cover art by Aaron Anderson. First edition published by MLR Press. This new version has been completely re-edited and redesigned and is worthy of the branding, "new and improved!"