Rick R. Reed's Blog, page 76

Today's the Day! Raining Men Officially Releases! Win a Signed Copy!

Release days are always a curious combination of joy, sadness, and anxiety. The baby (book) you have labored over for so many months has now left your hands for good and, for better or worse, is now part of the world. No longer is it something in your imagination, or your heart, or even your computer's hard drive. Now your baby is open to praise, interpretation, rejection, and maybe even bullying, and there's very little you can do to stimulate or prevent any of the above.

It is with great pleasure that I give you Raining Men , my heartfelt love story about a sexually-addicted man finding his way toward loving himself and, at last, that special one. It's not an easy journey and it's one fraught with danger, missteps, and outright peril. But if you travel along with Bobby Nelson, you'll also discover hope, joy, and the transformative power of love.

And, as I always do on a new release day, I am giving away a free, autographed print copy of Raining Men to one winner. Simply leave a comment below (include your e-mail so I can be in touch if you win). The contest is available to those living in the US. I will pick a winner next Friday, June 7.

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The character you loved to hate in Chaser becomes the character you will simply love in Raining Men.

It’s been raining men for most of Bobby Nelson’s adult life. Normally, he wouldn’t have it any other way, but lately something’s missing. Now, he wants the deluge to slow to a single special drop. But is it even possible for Bobby to find “the one” after endless years of hooking up?

When Bobby’s father passes away, Bobby finally examines his rocky relationship with the man and how it might have contributed to his inability to find the love he yearns for. Guided by a sexy therapist, a Sex Addicts Anonymous group, a well-endowed Chihuahua named Johnny Wadd, and Bobby’s own cache of memories, Bobby takes a spiritual, sexual, and emotional journey to discover that life’s most satisfactory love connections lie in quality, not quantity. And when he’s ready to love not only himself but someone else, sex and love fit, at last, into one perfect package.

REVIEWS
From LIVE YOUR LIFE, BUY THE BOOK
“Rick R. Reed makes the commitment to write about issues of interest in the gay community and he does so regularly. Sexual addiction is certainly one we hear about and it’s universal. I found myself pulled into this story as I realized what was going on with Bobby. I wanted Bobby to show the vulnerable aspects of himself he has buried over time to avoid hurt. I wanted him to be whole, to be happy and to find himself. This is not an easy journey, but a journey very worth taking.
Read the review.
From ON TOP DOWN UNDER BOOK REVIEWS
“...another amazing story...Never in a million years would I have thought that I would love Bobby. Only a truly talented author could turn a character like him around as he did.”
Read the review.
From SID LOVE M/M Reviews
“...definitely a keeper. I would recommend it to anyone…a real deal, with a believable storyline and some great writing by a very talented author.” 
Read the review.
From MM Good Book Reviews
“And while this is definitely a romance with a HEA I get to say that the achievement of that HEA has never felt more realistic and approachable...The entire book felt as if the author handpicked the characters straight from out on the streets, stripped them of their stories and wrote their lives for us to have a glimpse of…A very remarkable book that the forever-romantics would not want to miss.”


Read an excerpt
BUY from Dreamspinner Press in ebook or in paperback
BUY Kindle version

From the Dreamspinner Press Newsletter: Buy RAINING MEN & Get a FREE CHASER!

Only two more days until Raining Men releases! Be sure you don't miss out on reading its predecessor...for free. From the Dreamspinner Press newsletter:

Get Chaser by Rick R. Reed for Free! When you buy a copy of Raning Men.

We will be doing a gift with purchase for Raining Men by Rick R. Reed. This gift applies to any purchase of Raining Men in ebook or paperback made through theDreamspinner Press website through Sunday June 2 (preorders included). The free ebook copy of Chaser will automatically appear on your bookshelf from May 31st to June 2nd. Chaser must be downloaded from your bookshelf by Sunday June 2nd. It will not remain on your bookshelf after June 2nd.

 

Consider Being an EPIC eBook Award Judge

The EPIC eBook Awards are gearing up for another year of honoring the very best in electronic publishing in a wide range of genres. If you would like to be considered as a judge (and get lots of great reading material for free), consider signing up.

I judged last year and will do so again this year. I can attest it's a very fun and rewarding experience. The best part is you can say how many books and in what genres you're willing to judge.

Here the details from the EPIC website:

While the competitions are obviously about the entrants, we wouldn't be able to pull this off without our judges. We appreciate the participation of authors, publishers, and editors. Thank you for your support!

Consider the judging schedule when indicating your availability and how many entries you can take:
Preliminary round judging - after June 5 through July 22. Judges will read first three chapters and evaluate the entry.Categories exempt from the Preliminary Round are: Children's, Short Works, Poetry.First Round judging - August 1 through September 7. Judges will read the entire book in this round.Final Round judging - September 17 through October 12. Judges will read all finalists in the category assigned; maximum number of finalists will be six. All confidential information will be protected and used only by competition personnel as required for contact purposes.

Fill out a Judge's registration form here.

Special Offer for RAINING MEN Release!

Here's your chance to read the book that precedes my new release (May 31) of  Raining Men !

For a limited time, Dreamspinner Press will automatically give you a FREE copy of  Chaser  with every  Raining Men  purchase (including pre-orders). It's a sweet deal--you should take advantage. Mom always said, "Honey, if it's free, you take it!"

The details: Dreamspinner Press will be doing a gift with purchase for Raining Men by Rick R. Reed. The reader will receive a free ebook copy of Chaser. This gift applies to any purchase of Raining Men in ebook or paperback made through the Dreamspinner Press website through Sunday June 2 (preorders included). The free ebook copy of Chaser must be downloaded from their bookshelf by Sunday June 2; it will not remain on their bookshelf after June 2.

BLURB
The character you loved to hate in Chaser becomes the character you will simply love in Raining Men. 

It’s been raining men for most of Bobby Nelson’s adult life. Normally, he wouldn’t have it any other way, but lately something’s missing. Now, he wants the deluge to slow to a single special drop. But is it even possible for Bobby to find “the one” after endless years of hooking up?

When Bobby’s father passes away, Bobby finally examines his rocky relationship with the man and how it might have contributed to his inability to find the love he yearns for. Guided by a sexy therapist, a Sex Addicts Anonymous group, a well-endowed Chihuahua named Johnny Wadd, and Bobby’s own cache of memories, Bobby takes a spiritual, sexual, and emotional journey to discover that life’s most satisfactory love connections lie in quality, not quantity. And when he’s ready to love not only himself but someone else, sex and love fit, at last, into one perfect package.

Buy the paperback.
Buy the ebook.

Work in Progress Sneak Peak: LEGALLY WED

Due out from Dreamspinner Press in January 2014!

Just completed 1500 words on my current work in progress, LEGALLY WED. What do you imagine could be the story behind these lines?

So what? You got your little heart busted one too many times? And you think a big soft bosom would be the perfect place to rest your weepy head? Poor baby!

It will never work. But you know what? You tickle me. And I will meet you just because I want to see what kind of freak would post an ad like yours.
 

Guest Post: My Open Relationship with Genre by Marshall Moore

Today, I'm delighted to share with you some insight on genre, writing, and the state of so-called gay fiction by Concrete Sky author, Marshall Moore.

Listen to what Marshall has to say:

A decade ago, when my first novel The Concrete Sky was published, someone close to the process warned me (off the record) about gay fiction: “It’s like a roach motel. You can check in, but you can’t check out.”  The Concrete Sky  is very gay, and it is exactly the book that I wanted it to be: it has the style and structure of a thriller (think The Living End meets Thelma and Louise), but underneath the rambunctiousness it’s also a comment on Generation X and the beginnings of the American decline. I had ambitions, and that “roach motel” remark would keep me in a state of vague panic for years afterward.

Sometime later, I was having dinner with the publishers of my second book. That night, I brought up my anxieties about being considered a gay writer, having not yet realized the extent to which I had become a pain in the ass about it. Visibly irritated, one of my publisher friends asked, “What is this gay shame you have?” The question was an interesting slap across the face. I fumbled for the right words, finally saying that shame wasn’t the issue at all, but writing had been my raison d’etre since early childhood, perhaps the main reason I was still drawing breath. I didn’t want to see it co-opted or derailed by limitations associated with genre, any genre. What if I were to write a book not about gay life? Gay publishers wouldn’t want it because it wasn’t gay enough; mainstream ones wouldn’t want it either because of my pink-bookshelf backlist. Where would that leave me?

Another source of discomfort with the label was its implication that I’d be putting myself forward as a gay role model. Although I understand the role-model impulse, I’m not arrogant enough to embrace it. If I have something to offer as such, it’s the fact that I have lived my life openly and on my own terms. Maybe a year after The Concrete Sky was published, a young guy emailed me to thank me for getting him through a bad night. I don’t remember his circumstances, only that he was ready to give up. My book stopped him: it spoke to him and kept him turning the pages; he found a spark of hope and decided not to check out after all. I don’t know how often that kind of thing happens to writers who aren’t gay, and it’s an experience I’ve always been thankful for. Even so, I can’t put the cart before the horse because writing doesn’t work that way for me: I wrote that book in order to tell a story. (I hope that guy will email me again someday to let me know he’s still around.)

A lot has changed. What it means to be gay has evolved: we are individuals, not the Borg. And in the publishing world, now that we are no longer pariahs, and now that self-publishing is a respectable option, many literary barricades have come down. In fact, the concept of genre itself has evolved. Literary fiction is understood to be just another genre, neither the baseline of all writing nor the end-all-be-all, and it has borrowed from what used to be dismissed as genre fiction. There are more options, both in life and in publishing. So if you find it meaningful to call me a gay author or my work gay fiction, go right ahead. Bio:

Marshall Moore is the author of five books: the novels Bitter Orange ,  The Concrete Sky , and An Ideal for Living, and two short-story collections, The Infernal Republic and Black Shapes in a Darkened Room. He is the founder and publisher at Typhoon Media Ltd in Hong Kong, and he is a PhD student in the creative writing program at Aberystwyth University in Wales. For more information, please visit his website.

Hop Against Homophobia & Transphobia: The Signifiant Difference Between Gay Marriage and Straight

Today is the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia and myself, along with many other writers, are blogging about, basically fear, tolerance, and acceptance. I have chosen marriage equality as my topic, because, as a gay man who was legally able to wed (something I never thought I'd be able to do) at the end of last year, the topic is near and dear to my heart. And my husband's! 

Be sure to check out all the other blogs today and prepare yourself for some fascinating reading! See the complete list below.

BONUS! Leave a comment on the post below, and you will be entered to win a FREE copy of my novel, BASHED,
which is a love/ghost story revolving around a horrendous hate crime and how a survivor, through the power of love, begins to heal. Winners will be announced to May 27. Leave an e-mail so I can contact you if you won and get you your book!

Okay. Enough intro stuff. Here's my post:

The Significant Difference between Gay Marriage and Straight Marriage
 By Rick R. Reed

In December, when my partner and I became husband and husband (one of the first in Washington State to do so—hooray for Washington!), people asked us if we felt different. At first, it seemed like a question from out in left field. After all, Bruce and I had been together and pledged to one another for a decade already when we said our vows.

But it did feel different. It’s hard to explain, but once we had the rings on our fingers and our friends had witnessed our simple yet heartfelt ceremony, a sea change did occur in our relationship. We both felt more committed, like more of a family. I can’t explain it, but I bet a lot of married people out there will understand the simple difference.

It was a very nice change—and one that took me a little bit by surprise. But this got me to thinking about another difference. What’s the difference between gay marriage and straight marriage? Aside from the obvious gender thing, what separates gay marriage from straight?

I wasn’t sure. I could tell you how it was the same:

It was two people in love, pledging their lives to one another. It was a commitment entered into joyfully and with the intention of staying together for the rest of our lives. It was predicated on the idea that we would share everything—meaning, to paraphrase the classic vows—the good times, the bad ones, the sick ones, the healthy ones, the rich and the poor ones. It made both of us know that we had a family in the other, someone with whom we would share celebrations and hard times, vacations, holidays, and life events. It represented a commingling of our two heretofore separate families, both of which welcomed us, as they always had, with open arms and treating us both as though we were blood. It meant that our house was a home. It meant that certain things might not be celebrated, but they would be tolerated—impatience, grumpiness, how we look first thing in the morning, to name but a few. It let us imagine an old age where we would not be alone. It let us picture a future into which we might jump, hand-in-hand, with fewer questions and worries.It meant that my treasures were his and his were mine. It meant that we could rely on each other. It meant that we loved each other, above all others. 
So what was the difference? I wondered. And then it hit me: here is the difference between gay marriage and straight (scroll down):





 (Keep scrolling)










(You can stop scrolling now. Get the picture?)

I saw a meme on Facebook once, those clever sayings presented as a picture and it said: Gay marriage, or, as I like to call, it—marriage .

And that’s key.

Dreamspinner Press 6-Year Anniversary Continues!

From May 13-19, Dreamspinner will offer 30% off all books (including in-stock paperbacks) by authors who signed with us in our fourth year of business. That means all my Dreamspinner titles are on sale this week. Here's a list of all the awesome authors included in the promotion:

Jeff Adams, Diane Adams, Sarah Black, Jessie Blackwood, Louise Blaydon, Ashleigh Brannigan, Selina Brody, Sue Brown, Cardeno C., Scotty Cade, Talia Carmichael, Allison Cassatta, David Cheater, Alan Chin, Elizabeth Coldwell, Shae Connor, William Cooper, R. Cooper, Kate Cotoner, Justine Currie, Charlie David, Jessica Skye Davies, Andi Deacon, Zoe Devlin, Dawn Douglas, Ryssa Edwards, CJane Elliott, Phoenix Emrys, Jeff Erno, Pepper Espinoza, Etienne, Feliz Faber, J.L. Farnsworth, Jamie Fessenden, P.A. Friday, Rebecca Lynne Fullan, S.A. Garcia, A.B. Gayle, Evan Gilbert, Michael Gouda, Raev Gray, K. Roxanne Gunn, Red Haircrow, Michael Halfhill, Nick Hanson, Lou Harper, Lesley Hastings, Lori C. Hawkins,Valentina Heart, Ellee Hill, Brian Holliday, Azura Ice, Morgan James, Hayley B. James, Kiernan Kelly, M. King, Christopher Koehler, Maggie Lee, Rebecca Leigh, J.J. Levesque, Augusta Li, Pearl Love, J.R. Loveless, Ryan Love less, Barry Lowe, Sui Lynn, Jake Mactire, Helen Madden, Sarah Madison, A.J. Mars, Anna Marie May, Belinda McBride, Moria McCain, Farida Mestek, T.C. Mill, Maria MoonStar, Michelle Moore, Ian Muise, Clancy Nacht, Elizabeth Noble, J.L. O'Faolain, M.J. O'Shea, Stephen Osborne, Timothy Owen, D.V. Patton, SJD Peterson, Wolf Phoenix, Nora Catherine Price, Amber Redd, Rick R. Reed, Tracy Rowan, G.G. Royale, Jaime Samms, Rodello Santos, Stefan Seabourne, Damon Shaw, Kate Sherwood, Corinna Silver, Ruth Sims, Joel Skelton, Amberly Smith, Shelter Somerset, JoAnne Soper-Cook, Andrea Speed, Caroline Stephens, Ethan Stone, Jan Suzukawa, Paul Taylor, B.G. Thomas, Tinnean, C. M. Torrens, Jenny Urban, Wynn Wagner, Felicia Watson, Mia Watts, Cooper West, Sullivan Wheeler, Braden Williams, Maureen Willman, Eden Winters, Lisa Worrall, Connor Wright, Beth Wylde, Sulayaman X, and C. Zampa.

 

Cover Reveal: FAMILY OBLIGATIONS

I'm excited to share with you the cover for my June release, a short I wrote in collaboration with the wonderful Vivien Dean. Cover art is by Trace Edward Zaber and it really gets across character, setting, and how this is a story told in letters between two men for whom more than distance gets in the way of their feelings.

The story releases from Amber Allure on June 23.

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 Tate D’Angelo always believed he knew who his father was. Beloved doctor, devoted husband and father, a kind soul…these were the words shared by everyone who came to his funeral. So when his father’s old college buddy, Randy, approaches him after the service, Tate expects to hear echoes of the same.

What he gets is almost a lifetime’s worth of letters that tell him so much more and cause him to view his father--and his family--in a whole new light.

The truth--about a secret love kept buried for decades--astonishes him. Overwhelmed by grief and confusion, he’s unsure if he can bear hearing how the lives of these two men entwined over the years, but he reads on anyway, discovering more to value, more to respect, and most importantly, more to love about the man who raised him.

Gay Romance Revue Is Live!

My new video venture, Gay Romance Revue, is now out! Watch as myself and fellow gay romance authors Poppy Dennison, Jacob Flores, and M.J. Mj O'Shea talk about pop culture, m/m books, and friends with benefits.