Leta Blake's Blog, page 14

“If you’ve read “Training Season”, you need to grab this sequel as quick as you can!” Review: Leta Blake – Training Complex – Hearts on Fire Reviews #gayromance

If you’ve read “Training Season”, you need to grab this sequel as quick as you can, and if you haven’t, what are you waiting for??? Total awesomeness and highly recommended!!

via Review: Leta Blake – Training Complex – Hearts on Fire Reviews.

 

Buckle up – Matty’s back!

Figure skater Matty Marcus didn’t capture Olympic gold, but he won rancher Rob Lovely’s heart.

After Rob sold his ranch and Matty hung up his skates, they started a new life together in New York City. Now Matty has taken on a fresh challenge as a figure skating coach, and Rob’s second career as a physical therapist should be everything he’s dreamed of. But in the brutal heat of their third summer in the city, Rob yearns for the wide-open country, and the intensity of city life awakens Matty’s demons.

Matty asks for increasingly intense BDSM scenes, and his disordered eating and erratic behavior ramp up the stakes. Rob struggles to stay in control, and after a well-intentioned anniversary gift goes awry, he still thinks he can handle the fallout. But the concrete jungle is closing in and his coping skills are unraveling.

Their love is deep, but Rob will have to admit the truth about what he really wants before they both tumble into chaos.

Click for reviews and praise for Training Complex!

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“This is the first book I’ve read by Leta Blake and it will definitely not be the last.” Review of Smoky Mountain Dreams #gay #romance

“This is the first book I’ve read by Leta Blake and it will definitely not be the last. This was an emotional and loving romance. I could not put the book down.”

via Amazon.com: Janis F’s review of Smoky Mountain Dreams.

Sometimes holding on means letting go
Christopher Ryder and Jesse Birch are two men hanging on to the past. While Christopher has let go of his failure as a country singer in Nashville, he’s still trying to please his narrow-minded, non-accepting family. His beloved Gran loves him the way he is, but Christopher feels painfully invisible to everyone else. He’s happy enough performing at the Smoky Mountain Dreams theme park in Tennessee, but even when Christopher is center stage he aches for someone to see the real him.
There’s more than meets the eye when it comes to bisexual Jesse. He’s raising two kids and fighting with family after a tragic accident took his children’s mother. There’s no room in his life for dating, his kids are his priority, and he doesn’t want more than an occasional hook-up. He sure as hell doesn’t want to fall hard for his favorite local singer, but when Christopher walks into his jewelry studio, Jesse hears a new song in his heart.

Smoky Mountain Dreams is available now at:

AMAZON

B&N

SMASHWORDS

iTUNES

SCRIBD

OYSTER

And now at KOBO.

“The brunet”, “the blond”, and “the younger man” are ruining your books! And here’s why! #epithets #makeitstop

I DNFed two books this week because I couldn’t deal with the authors’ wild overuse of epithets. One was self-published and the other was published by a press, so this isn’t just a self-pub thing. Authors, beta readers, editors, please, for the love of all that is holy, understand that epithets are unnecessary about 99% of the time. Every single time you use one, ask yourself, “Is this necessary?” I promise that the answer is nearly always no.

I googled looking for an explanation so that I wouldn’t have to actually write up everything myself. I found one on Tumblr that I’ll share here. Yes, it’s about fan fiction, but, dudes, this applies to all writing. Published work is actually expected to be held to a higher standard than fanfic most of the time, am I right?

GO READ THE ENTIRE POST but I am going to just cut and paste in some screen caps of the most important parts.

Do you look at your mother and think, “The dark haired woman made waffles for my breakfast.” NO. You think, “Mom is making me some awesome waffles because she is awesome.” Do you look at your best friend and think, “The accountant walks toward me with purpose.” NO. You think, “Jake strides toward me purposefully.” Do you look at your wife/husband/lover and think, “The brown-eyed artist smiles and laughs at my joke.” NO. You think, “Jamie smiles and laughs at my joke.” Do you look at your friend from Iceland and say, “The Icelander chewed her food viciously.” NO. You think, “Ragna chewed her food like she was starving.” OR WHATEVER.

Yes, it’s dehumanizing. It’s also the exact opposite of intimate. If you’re writing a romance, and you’re coming up to a pivotal scene that’s supposed to show physical and emotional intimacy, nothing is as distancing as, “The blond man licked the tip of my cock and I moaned.” The blond man? Unless this is a trick and your character doesn’t know his name, those words have no business in a love scene. That is not intimate. That is not connected. That’s not romance.

Yes. All of this. It’s harder and you’ve got to work for clarity, but it’s so much better to come up with well-structured sentences that make the subjects the pronouns are referencing abundantly clear without resorting to the use of epithets between lovers or friends. Or even acquaintances who definitely know each other’s names.

Yes, but keep in mind that the use of the epithet should always have something to do with the action. So, in a love scene, for example, there’s really no reason for one lover to call the other “the sheriff” in his head. “The sheriff fondled Darren’s nipples and whispered, ‘I love you,’ in his ear.” Nope. NOPE. Not intimate. Not sexy. And not how actual human beings think. I swear to God, you have never ever ever been in bed with your boyfriend/girlfriend/wife/husband and thought, “The department store manager licked his lips and dove down for a kiss.” Not even a single time.

So please, please, please stop doing it in your books. I want to actually enjoy and finish the books I pay for. I want to stop thinking, “Why did the press get 60% of their royalties and let this book go to print like this?” I want to stop thinking, “This self-pubber needs stronger beta readers and a friggin’ editor.” I want to be all like, “YES, I LOVED THIS BOOK! LET ME GIVE YOU MORE MONEY FOR ANOTHER ONE!”

And that’s all I’ve got to say about this today. I just had to get it off my chest. Thank you.

B.A. Brock on King of the Storm

Leta Blake:

Fantastic, deeply personal interview with BA Brock about his new book. I’m so excited to make time to read this one!

Originally posted on jamielakenovels:

B.A. Brock is one of the most awesome courageous authors I know. Anyone who dares to be themselves no matter what the consequences is a hero in my book and in interview with him about his novel, King of the Storm, he talks about the strength it took in his personal  to pull together this amazing book.

What is your latest book about?

King of the Storm is an Epic Romantic Fantasy, which tells the story of Perseus, a reluctant demigod hero, who fights against his own destiny and fate. It’s set in a world similar to Ancient Greece, but not. There’s magic and elves, and the heroes of old are reimagined to fit this new world.

What makes it different than others?

DSP Publications publishes a wide range of LGBTQ+ fiction, and not necessarily M/M Romance. My story isn’t the classic M/M love story, and it’s…

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REVIEW: “If Only In My Dreams” by Keira Andrews

Leta Blake:

I loved this story, too! Perfect for the holidays! *wallows in wintery goodness*

Originally posted on "Boys in Our Books"...:

ABOUT:

To be home for Christmas, they must bridge the distance between them.

Charlie Yates is desperate. It’s almost Christmas and his flight home from college has been delayed. For days. Charlie promised his little sister Ava he’d be home for her first holiday season since going into remission from leukemia. Now he’s stuck on the opposite coast and someone else grabbed the last rental car. Someone he hasn’t even spoken to in four years. Someone who broke his heart.

Gavin Bloomberg’s childhood friendship with Charlie ended overnight after a day of stolen kisses. With years of resentment between them, they don’t want to be in the same room together, let alone a car. But for Ava’s sake, Gavin agrees to share the rental and drive across the country together.

As they face unexpected bumps along the road, can Charlie and Gavin pave the way to a future together?

 

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“You’ll be amazed how quickly you devour it and are left begging for more!!!” Will & Patrick Wake Up Married by Leta Blake & Alice Griffiths

“What can I say? I was *immediately* hooked by the debacle of Will and Patrick’s booze-adled shot-gun marriage and the story that ensued. The writing is excellent, well-paced, and I developed an investment in the the characters almost instantaneously. Both Will and Patrick left me enchanted, frustrated, totally smitten…and completely impatient for the next installation!! If any of you are on the fence, get the book. You’ll be amazed how quickly you devour it and are left begging for more!!!”

via Liza’s review on Amazon.com

Review: Will & Patrick Wake Up Married (Episodes 1 & 2) by Leta Blake and Alice Griffiths #mmromance #gay

Source: Review: Will & Patrick Wake Up Married (Episodes 1 & 2) by Leta Blake and Alice Griffiths

 

“[I’m] a big fan of this serial. The story is light fun with lots of humor, I love both Will and Patrick, and I can’t wait to watch them fall in love and sort things out.”

In the midst of a hectic day preparing for Thanksgiving ...

In the midst of a hectic day preparing for Thanksgiving with friends and family, I want to pause and express my love and gratitude to:

1) READERS: I almost wrote “my readers”, and while I do love y’all especially, in reality I’m just grateful for all readers, every last person out there who enjoys picking up a book and immersing themselves in a tale spun by one of us wacky writers. Thank you for going on the journeys with our characters, for falling in love alongside them, for crying with them, for helping them live outside of the writer’s mind. Thank you, also, for trusting us with your hard-earned money, for trusting that the trip will be worth it, so that we can afford to write more stories for you. Thank you, readers! You make our hearts sing and make our work worthwhile.

2) Beta-readers: These special first readers get extra buckets of gratitude for making sure we don’t embarrass ourselves too badly, for telling us the ugly truths about our babies (books) and forcing us to reevaluate them with new eyes. Thank you for taking precious time away from your family, friends, work, job, and life to read our books (sometimes more than once) with a critical eye and then writing out (sometimes long) emails about how they can be better. Thank you for fighting for our books. You’re our heroes.

3) Editors: Thank you for trying to fix every last wrong thing in our books and for making our books your own babies, too. Thank you for forcing us into the harder edits that we might otherwise resist. We’d be a mess without you!

4) Reviewers: Thank you for loving books so much you tell the world about them! Thank you for doing your best to spread the word about the books you love and for being honest about the books you don’t. Thank you for spending time away from your family, friends, and life to run blogs, promote our books, post on Goodreads/FB/Twitter with so much enthusiasm. Where would we be with you guys? You do so much for all of us authors! Thank you forever!

5) Family and Friends: Thank you for listening to us talk endlessly about made up people. Thank you for giving us the time to write the books, for not making us feel guilty about how often we spend our free hours in a fantasy land, and thank you for understanding piled up dishes, and laundry, and missed appointments. Thank you for holding our hands when books bomb, and for jumping up and down with us when books do well, and for reading books that you might otherwise not just because we wrote them. Thank you for your love, your support, your cheerleading, and your tether to reality.

Thank you! You make our world go ’round!

PRE-RELEASE REVIEW: “Winter Oranges” by Marie Sexton

Leta Blake:

I’m excited for this book!

Originally posted on "Boys in Our Books"...:

ABOUT:

Jason Walker is a child star turned teen heartthrob turned reluctant B-movie regular who’s sick of his failing career. So he gives up Hollywood for northern Idaho, far away from the press, the drama of LA, and the best friend he’s secretly been in love with for years.

There’s only one problem with his new life: a strange young man only he can see is haunting his guesthouse. Except Benjamin Ward isn’t a ghost. He’s a man caught out of time, trapped since the Civil War in a magical prison where he can only watch the lives of those around him. He’s also sweet, funny, and cute as hell, with an affinity for cheesy ’80s TV shows. And he’s thrilled to finally have someone to talk to.

But Jason quickly discovers that spending all his time with a man nobody else can see or hear isn’t without its problems—especially…

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“This story is beautifully written, almost lyrical in its flow, like the fairy tales of yore.” | Review of Levity by Leta Blake

“This story is beautifully written, almost lyrical in its flow, like the fairy tales of yore. Of course, the evil witch came along and presented our heroes with an impossible choice. Without giving too much away, the characteristics and growth of both heroes made it possible for them to save the world and each other, and live happily ever after.

This was a light (ha!), fun, engaging story. Great for a beach read, a comfort read; one of those moments you want something you know will make you laugh, smile, and feel good.”

Amazon.com: jeayci’s review of Levity (formerly Earthly Desires).

Previously released in 2012 as Earthly Desires.