K.A. Merikan's Blog, page 8

UK LGBTQ Fiction Meet 2013 (Manchester)

I loved last year’s meet, but this one was even better. More people, more days, and this year, we weren’t as intimidated as the last time. Not that the attendees were intimidating in 2012, but being complete newbies, the perspective of meeting so many people who were already “on the in” made us both excited and anxious. This time however, we were too happy to meet some of our real-life and online friends to be nervous. Obviously, we got to know many new people as well

We arrived in Manchester on Thursday and took our time to take a look at the city, which essentially meant so much walking around that out feet were going numb by the end of the day. But we loved it, especially the monumental architecture and the number of local cafes and bars. Not that many chain restaurants here. Cruising through the streets, we found a building that housed numerous alternative stores: with everything from goth jewelry to manga-themed bags. There was even a lovely 50s-themed milkshake place on the second floor and they ran a challenge of drinking a milkshake from a skull-shaped glass and made out of a litre of ice cream. And if you beat the best challenger’s time, you get the drink for free. Obviously, we didn’t do it, but it would be fun to watch ;D There were only male names on the challenger board… no surprise there ;D

At the end of the lovely day, we visited the Manchester Art Gallery, which is small, but has a very interesting collection. That evening, there was a special event and visitors were invited to draw, dance, and the whole building echoed with music. I must admit I appreciated the slight noise, as it encouraged me to chat with Kat about the artwork and there weren’t many people in the galleries anyway.

Friday was a slow day. On a road crossing close to the event venue, we bumped into Alexandr Voinov and L.A. Witt, and if that wasn’t a perfect start of the weekend, I don’t know what would be ;D Most of the day was dedicated to catching up with friends, and meeting new people in the hotel lobby and in the end, we ate dinner in Canal Street.

Saturday and Sunday were filled with panels and further networking/having fun with amazing people. Me and Kat split from time to time, as contrary to popular belief me and Kat aren’t ALWAYS joined at the hip I enjoyed the Reviewers panel, Claire London even quoted one of the reviews for Special Needs and I had to agree with Serena Yates‘ reviewing policy. It is refreshing to listen to opinions like those after watching some of the things that are happening on Goodreads.

The Perfect Blog (waves at Kay Berrisford, who used our guest post as an example), Publishers’ and Social Media panels were very informative as well. My only regret is that I missed a chance to be a character in Jo Myles‘ book, but I hope there will be a contest like that next year, because being a character in a book of an author you like is one hell of a prize! ;D

This year’s meet was full of surprises. We met Danni Keane, the person who prompted our LHNB story, In His Shoes, and in the course of conversation, it turned out she lives very close to us, so we agreed to talk over coffee some time Other than that, we managed to (apparently) freak out Anna Martin with our impromptu idea for a dino-shifter story and Kat “hijacked” Dreamspinner‘s twitter account. Don’t trust the Merikans, there will be chaos ;D

We both wanted to send hugs and kisses to all the people who made this weekend special, you know who you are Special thanks go to the UK Meet team, because the event wouldn’t be possible without them. Can’t wait for next year!

And now some more memories from the city:

                

Kat:

P.S. The hotel had the Best.Donuts.Ever.

 

In His Shoes is out! ;D

‘In His Shoes’, the historical short we have written for the Love Has No Boundaries event is finally out. It is a free book, so you can:

read it on the M/M Romance Group website,
download the pdf version HERE,
add it to your books on Goodreads HERE.

Blurb:

— Giving a new name to the phrase ‘fashion victim’ —

London, 1887

Since Frank and Jasper’s pimping business kicked off, they’ve been gradually climbing the social ladder of the East End. Jasper strives for more in life, and Frank’s determined to make sure he gets everything he wants. But with money too tight to even afford shoes decent enough to impress wealthy ladies, they have to move on to more drastic measures.

A solution seems to come in the person of a wealthy punter, but what will Frank do when matters get out of hand, leaving Jasper in danger?

*

“In His Shoes” is set in the “Gentlemen’s Tales of Love, Lust and the Undead” universe, but can be read as a standalone.

Themes (may contain SPOILERS): pimping, greed, violence, friends to lovers

Erotic content: graphic m/m sex

Genre: historical (Victorian), erotic romance

Length: ~9000 words

This story was written as a part of the M/M Romance Group’s ‘Love Has No Boundaries’ event.

 

 

So much going on lately…

We are currently holding a giveaway of  Special Needs  on  Kay Berrisford’s page . Agnes is blogging about disability fetishism, transability, and how they relate to the book. Read the post and leave a comment if you want a chance to win the free copy.
Special Needs was rated 5+ by Gabbi. You can read the full review HERE.
Accompanying the review is a short interview about the book. Read it HERE.
We will be Top2Bottom’s spotlight author on August 6th, so those who don’t want to miss it, better mark the date in your calendars
We created a page with a complete list of links to reviews of our books. Read it HERE.
For an up-to-date list of our guest posts and interviews, go HERE and HERE.

General update :)

 

                                          

Hi everyone! It’s been an exciting month for us. We launched our free serialized novel, Blood. On the Rocks., which will be released weekly for over a year, with the total word count being around 360k. We also completed our first novel in English, Special Needs, and recently did final edits on the historical short written as part of this year’s Love Has No Boundaries event, In His Shoes. We don’t know the release date, but it’s safe to assume it will be available sometime soon.

With tattoos and piercings being so important to the protagonists of Special Needs , we decided to publish an on-site glossary of their body mods. READ GLOSSARY
Agnes wrote about this in more detail in a guest post on Babes in Boyland. You might want to read this one, as there is a copy of Special needs to WIN. READ THE POST.
For vampire lovers, Agnes wrote a review of Byzantium. READ THE REVIEW.

As for out plans for the nearest future, we will attend the UK LGBTQ Fiction Meet in Manchester mid-July. For current updates, follow us on Facebook, or Twitter (Kat, Agnes).

Special Needs is out! :)

Special Needs is finally out and you can get it on:

Smashwords

Amazon

And soon on other vendors

We’re also planning to put it into paperback form through Createspace, but that will still be a while until we sort it out

I hope you can enjoy this crazy roller coaster ride of a story as much as we loved writing it.

Special Needs – chapter 1&2 for sampling

It’s been a busy few days:) First, the launch of Blood. On the Rocks. , then a whole lot of editing. We have received some messages asking about the release date of Special Needs, and the answer is: sometime next week. We’re very excited, as it will be our first full-on novel in English and we want to give potential readers a sample to taste.

You can now read Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 on this site. Enjoy!

Blood. On the Rocks. – a free serialized novel by yours truly ;D

Blood. On the Rocks. is a free serialized novel we’re launching this weekend. New chapters will be added each Saturday, but there might be minor updates throughout the week. Hope everyone enjoys it as much as we do Cover art by the talented Kkohaku.

For more information, visit the Blood. On the Rocks. page.

Blood. On the Rocks. on Goodreads.

— A vampire walks into a bar… —

Tekkeitsertok has the name of a god, but his life is far from celestial. Living in a small town in northern Alaska, he works two jobs to support his family of seven – him and his six dogs. As a gay man, he doesn’t have many opportunities for dating in a place like New Petersburg, but his whole life is about to spiral out of control when a vampire enters the bar he works in.

It is the first vampire to visit the town since the creatures’ existence had been announced by the government, and he causes problems from the moment he sets foot in the bar. The mysterious Sergey is set on making Tekke believe they are bound by destiny, but Tekke is having none of that, since he is all about the logical and rational in life. Then again, in a time when caribou have sharp teeth and ravens grow antlers, maybe it’s time to stop clinging to logic and embrace the strange and irrational?

If trying to date a vampire wasn’t enough of a problem, New Petersburg is being torn apart by forces no one can recognize. As reluctant as Tekke is, he might just hold the key to saving thousands of lives, including one that he holds increasingly dear.

But can you save the life of someone who is already dead?

*

Genre: homoerotic contemporary fantasy

Length:  serialized novel

Themes (highlight for possible SPOILERS): vampires, shape-shifters, adult virgin, enemies to lovers, rebirth, Siberia, Alaska, hunting, mutation, inspired by Inuit mythology, mythical creatures, monsters, shamanism, ephebophilia, kept lovers, violence, mutilation, murder, blood magic, Gods walking the Earth, military, deception, dreams, friendship, extrasensory perception, emotional trauma, homophobia, despair, abandonment

Erotic content: explicit m/m sexual scenes (including: first time, sock fetish, dubious consent, cheating)

In His Shoes

We’re participating in this year’s Don’t Read In The Closet, Love Has No Boundaries  Event. Our story, In His Shoes,  isn’t yet available, but here are the blurb and the gorgeous cover by Book Cover Masterclass ;D

— Giving a new name to the phrase ‘fashion victim’ —

London, 1887

Since Frank and Jasper’s pimping business kicked off, they’ve been gradually climbing the social ladder of the East End. Jasper strives for more in life, and Frank’s determined to make sure he gets everything he wants. But with money too tight to even afford shoes decent enough to impress wealthy ladies, they have to move on to more drastic measures.

A solution seems to come in the person of a wealthy punter, but what will Frank do when matters get out of hand, leaving Jasper in danger?

“In His Shoes” is set in the “Gentlemen’s Tales of Love, Lust and the Undead” universe, but can be read as a standalone.

Themes (may contain SPOILERS): pimping, greed, violence, friends to lovers

Erotic content: graphic m/m sex

Genre: historical (Victorian), erotic romance

Length: ~9000 words

This story was written as a part of the M/M Romance Group’s ‘Love Has No Boundaries’ event.

In His Shoes on Goodreads

Abandoned – musings about the appeal of ghastly places (aka the ‘Queer Fear’ anthology is out!)

The Queer Fear anthology is out, and with it, our newest short, Matthew Powers Lives!

Matthew dreams of becoming a porn star. All he lacks is a proper porn name, but it becomes the least of his problems when his first professional shoot gets interrupted by a series of freak accidents. With the crew desperate to get away, no one notices Matt’s absence, and he is left behind in an abandoned asylum in the woods, at the mercy of a spirit that has been bound to its cool walls for too long.

To celebrate our newest release, I decided to reveal some of the inspiration behind the story ;D

*

Abandoned buildings are places where anyone can feel a little bit like an archaeologist. I guess most people have a curiosity for the past, for others’ lives, and rummaging through old, forgotten rooms is often as close as we can get to catching a glimpse of the times past.

As a child, I often visited my great grandparents. They lived in this old, pre-war country house, complete with a Holy Mary figure under the slope of the roof and a cool cellar under the porch instead of a refrigerator. It had no plumbing and the water had to be taken from a well outside. Now that I think of it, I hardly understand why they wouldn’t install all the modern appliances like their neighbours, but at the time, I was fascinated. To a city kid like me, it was like a place from another world. The house seemed so small, because half of it had been locked away after the children moved out. The two spare rooms I eventually got to see were cold and with the 1930s decorations, looked like one of those time capsules people lock away for a hundred years for their ancestors to open and get a glimpse of the past.

The first time I went into a building that was actually abandoned, it didn’t feel homely at all. No, it was like another planet: huge, empty, with many corridors and dark corners. It was a paper factory. Completely empty save for a few piles of cardboard that reached all the way up to the ceiling. There was a tall chimney, at this point housing a tiny tree on top and some moss and close by, an abandoned villa I scavenged along with some neighbourhood kids, careful not to fall into the huge hole in the middle of a room on the first floor.  We were running around inside, playing Scooby Doo and co. Investigating a haunted house. Best time ever. Who cares about health and safety anyway?

For a kid (or even an adult, if you’re like me), abandoned buildings and old cemeteries are just as attractive as some fancy ruins, which kind of explains every child’s dream in my neighbourhood used to be (maybe still is, who knows?) to get into an odd, old house, left among modern apartment buildings without explanation. Its doors and windows are bricked-up, which produced gruesome stories about bodies of the last owners being left inside. In open coffins.

In the park across the street from where I used to live, there are plenty ruins of houses and an old funfair hidden between the trees, where passersby theoretically aren’t supposed to go (but come on, that surely can’t include kids). Those places have often captured my imagination and I originally wanted to talk Kat into using this place as the setting for our clown gangbang short – Clown’d. I’m sure its time will come.

Instead of a ruined funfair, we have an abandoned asylum in Matthew Powers Lives!. Creepy places. What associations do you have with an abandoned asylum? Lobotomy. Icy baths. Forcible confinement and feeding. Patients who are being hospitalized because of eccentricities or unusual sexual appetites. If you don’t share my anxieties, a marathon of American Horror Story: Asylum should do the trick. Matthew Powers Lives! is a ghost story, so just imagine what happens when the demons locked in old walls come alive to haunt poor Matt.

As for me, time to look through my “Chernobyl” folder and once again plan a trip to Ukraine, contemplating why Pripyat is a ghost town and why it fascinates so many people. It reminds me of the weird feeling I got when driving through the ghost towns in post-war Croatia. As fascinating as time capsules can be, it is hard not to think about why they had been left.

*

Blogging away

We’ve been blogging all around the place so if you’re interested in reading some interesting posts, here’s a little roundup

If a human eats a merman is it cannibalism? @Babes in Boyland

Is it always wrong to be anachronistic? @Kay Berrisford

Using zombies as different types of background in storytelling @Zach Sweets

Enjoy!