Leta Blake's Blog, page 57

Review of Black Dog (Bannon’s Gym) by Joder at Amazon.com #gay #mma @CatGrant2009

Black Dog by Cat Grant is available at Amazon! Click to read more reviews and buy!

“Along with these realistic and immensely appealing cast of characters comes the vividly depicted world of fighting. I could feel the energy and excitement and became completely immersed in the heartpounding fight scenes drenched in sweat. Ms. Grant perfectly combined action with romance all the while emphasizing this testosterone-filled world featuring lots of sweaty and sexy men who wore their hearts on their sleeves.” – Amazon.com: J. Faltys “Joder”‘s review of Black Dog (Bannon’s Gym).

Review of Strain by Amelia C. Gormley #zombies #gay #dystopia @ACGormley

Strain by Amelia C. Gormley

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The last 20% of this book, especially, is really damn amazing. Obviously, all of it is good, but around the 75-80% mark, I started having that feeling of, “Oh, God, noooo. I’ve just gotten completely involved and invested and now it’s almost overrrrr.” That’s one of the best and worst feelings, isn’t it? Because there’s never enough book left at that point.

I’ll admit I had a few niggles about emotional continuity, some logistics, and a few other things, but then I have to ask myself, “Leta, when do you not have niggles?” And the fact is, I do most of the time, so I have to throw those by the wayside and look at the bigger picture. Which is:

a) Amelia Gormley has created a really excellently drawn post-apocalyptic world with believable zombies and a believable fuck-or-die situation. That’s a pretty difficult thing to accomplish and she does it superbly and with her usual beautiful, descriptive writing style.

b) The characters of Rhys and Darius are interesting to watch unfurl, and I only wish there had been more of that. I did feel that there weren’t enough scenes of them together not fucking (or before fucking). More scenes like the shaving scene, for example. But I have a feeling that I might be in the minority on that count. Generally, I’m a fan of more scenes…editors and other readers seem to be fans of less scenes. So, I dunno. But see, that just means I’m greedy. They are interesting characters, and I’d have loved to know more about Darius’s past especially. For a forty-something man who’s lived through hell, we end up knowing relatively little about his life. So, hey, SEQUEL??? I’ll be waiting here. *chinhands*

c) The sex scenes were always hot (though, again, I could’ve handled a bit more non-con or a gangbang, which, uh, frankly, this situation called for, no, SCREAMED for, but we can’t always get what we wannnnnt, sang our friend Mick) and definitely got me a bit glassy-eyed and red-faced. Whew!

d) The emotional crisis near the end was deeply moving and I wish the pace had slowed there just a little to allow me to savor it a bit more. BUT, wow, did she ever rip my heart out (in the good way!!) with that big coming-of-age moment that, uh, no one should have to ever experience. *holds Rhys forever*

3) Loved the diversity in the book. Strong women, people of color, etc, etc. Nicely done. Strong showing!

4) The villain was truly despicable and yet believably so and, even better, not cartoonish because we’ve all (unfortunately) known someone like this dude. Good villains can be hard to draw.

Basically, I loved this book and shifted some responsibilities around to read it in a big, fat hurry because I was so into the world she’d built and so curious about the characters. I would love to see more in this universe, like with anyone at all from this world, and more with Rhys and Darius, too. I highly recommend it and think everyone should start sending Amelia emails demanding a sequel or three. Go forth! Buy and read!

View all my reviews

’90s Coming of Age Songs – Looks Like Rain by Casey Stratton #music #piano

Casey’s music is always good, but this song from this album really speaks to the characters I’m working with right now .

“Well-written. Heartbreaking. Funny. A journey that is a testament to the drive of the human spirit.” Review of Training Season #gay #ebook #romance

“Well-written. Heartbreaking. Funny. A journey that is a testament to the drive of the human spirit.”

“This book takes you on a wonderful journey!”

Amazon.com: Island Lover’s review of Training Season.

Training Season can be purchased at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, ARe, and Smashwords. And also on iBooks.
Unquestionably talented figure skater Matty Marcus is willing to sacrifice everything for his Olympic dream, but his lack of discipline cost him the gold once before. Now the pressure’s on. He needs a coach who can keep him in line, but top coaches don’t come cheap, and Matty can’t afford to stay in the game no matter how badly he wants to win.
When a lucrative house-sitting gig brings him to rural Montana, Matty does his best to maintain his training regimen. Local residents turn out to be surprisingly tolerant of his flamboyant style, especially handsome young rancher Rob Lovely, who proves to be much more than a cowboy stereotype. Just as Matty requires a firm hand to perform his best on the ice, Rob shows him how strong he can be when he relinquishes control in the bedroom. With new-found self-assurance, he drives himself harder to go straight to the top.
But competition has a timetable, and to achieve his Olympic dream, Matty will have to join his new coach in New York City, leaving Rob behind. Now he must face the ultimate test. Has he truly learned how to win—on and off the ice—during his training season?

LGBT Month: Interview with Leta Blake – Im With Geek #books #amreading

LGBT Month: Interview with Leta Blake – I’m With Geek.

Click above to read my interview for I’m With Geek. Hayley asked some wonderful, thoughtful questions that I really enjoyed answering. Go have a peek! Also, check out their whole site! It’s very interesting and well-done!

Training Season can be purchased at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, ARe, and Smashwords. And also on iBooks.
Unquestionably talented figure skater Matty Marcus is willing to sacrifice everything for his Olympic dream, but his lack of discipline cost him the gold once before. Now the pressure’s on. He needs a coach who can keep him in line, but top coaches don’t come cheap, and Matty can’t afford to stay in the game no matter how badly he wants to win.
When a lucrative house-sitting gig brings him to rural Montana, Matty does his best to maintain his training regimen. Local residents turn out to be surprisingly tolerant of his flamboyant style, especially handsome young rancher Rob Lovely, who proves to be much more than a cowboy stereotype. Just as Matty requires a firm hand to perform his best on the ice, Rob shows him how strong he can be when he relinquishes control in the bedroom. With new-found self-assurance, he drives himself harder to go straight to the top.
But competition has a timetable, and to achieve his Olympic dream, Matty will have to join his new coach in New York City, leaving Rob behind. Now he must face the ultimate test. Has he truly learned how to win—on and off the ice—during his training season?

Fanwork Friday: The Starring Role #dero #awz

Another fantastic fanvid about Deniz and Roman from Alles was zählt (All That Matters). This one is a Roman character study from the early days of their relationship. I hated Deniz during this time period, but Roman wasn’t an easy person to deal with either. He wasn’t a delicate flower. Anyway, yeah, this was lovely to see.

*

Oh, Roman,  you were such a brat and such a darling. I loved you.

Training Season can be purchased at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, ARe, and Smashwords. And also on iBooks.
Unquestionably talented figure skater Matty Marcus is willing to sacrifice everything for his Olympic dream, but his lack of discipline cost him the gold once before. Now the pressure’s on. He needs a coach who can keep him in line, but top coaches don’t come cheap, and Matty can’t afford to stay in the game no matter how badly he wants to win.
When a lucrative house-sitting gig brings him to rural Montana, Matty does his best to maintain his training regimen. Local residents turn out to be surprisingly tolerant of his flamboyant style, especially handsome young rancher Rob Lovely, who proves to be much more than a cowboy stereotype. Just as Matty requires a firm hand to perform his best on the ice, Rob shows him how strong he can be when he relinquishes control in the bedroom. With new-found self-assurance, he drives himself harder to go straight to the top.
But competition has a timetable, and to achieve his Olympic dream, Matty will have to join his new coach in New York City, leaving Rob behind. Now he must face the ultimate test. Has he truly learned how to win—on and off the ice—during his training season?

Five Shuffled Songs! Witness, Spoon, Thorn, etc! #music

1. Come On Home to Me by Tracey Thorn of Everything But the Girl



One of my favorite songs. Wrote a story about this song once.

2. Car Radio by Spoon

3. Another Mystery – Dar Williams



Preach, Dar. Preach. I’ll c/p something I posted to Facebook the other day about this song.

Man, this song speaks to me more and more as I get older. I was thinking about it in the car this morning because I’d read some Tumblr posts from girls who say they want to be like Laura Palmer (the mysterious, beautiful, girl who is loved/wanted by everyone) and another post about how Laura Palmer was a Mary Sue (which, uh, was the entire point of her! She was impossible! Lynch was clearly critiquing society’s expectations of women with Laura! She couldn’t have existed in reality and her monstrosities were due to her Mary Sue-ness — all things to all people, sex machine, goddess, whore, virgin, daddy’s girl, best friend, volunteer, star student, cheerleader, etc, etc). And the posts about wanting to be like her just gave me the shivers. I was like, “Oh, God, no. I don’t want to be a mystery. Preach Dar.”

4. Who Is Like This One? – Hello Saferide



Damn, I love this song. I titled a story after a lyric from it once.

“But you are the only one I’ve met who’s ‘God Only Knows’

I liked you the first time I met you

and it grows and grows and grows”

5. Witness by Tori Amos



I am a weirdo because I like this one and a lot of folks don’t. *shrug*

Training Season can be purchased at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, ARe, and Smashwords. And also on iBooks.
Unquestionably talented figure skater Matty Marcus is willing to sacrifice everything for his Olympic dream, but his lack of discipline cost him the gold once before. Now the pressure’s on. He needs a coach who can keep him in line, but top coaches don’t come cheap, and Matty can’t afford to stay in the game no matter how badly he wants to win.
When a lucrative house-sitting gig brings him to rural Montana, Matty does his best to maintain his training regimen. Local residents turn out to be surprisingly tolerant of his flamboyant style, especially handsome young rancher Rob Lovely, who proves to be much more than a cowboy stereotype. Just as Matty requires a firm hand to perform his best on the ice, Rob shows him how strong he can be when he relinquishes control in the bedroom. With new-found self-assurance, he drives himself harder to go straight to the top.
But competition has a timetable, and to achieve his Olympic dream, Matty will have to join his new coach in New York City, leaving Rob behind. Now he must face the ultimate test. Has he truly learned how to win—on and off the ice—during his training season?

“A+ Would sit home on a Saturday night to read again!” Carly’s review of Training Season #mmromance #gay #kindle

“A+ Would sit home on a Saturday night to read again!”

Goodreads | Carly (The United States)’s review of Training Season.

Training Season can be purchased at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, ARe, and Smashwords. And also on iBooks.
Unquestionably talented figure skater Matty Marcus is willing to sacrifice everything for his Olympic dream, but his lack of discipline cost him the gold once before. Now the pressure’s on. He needs a coach who can keep him in line, but top coaches don’t come cheap, and Matty can’t afford to stay in the game no matter how badly he wants to win.
When a lucrative house-sitting gig brings him to rural Montana, Matty does his best to maintain his training regimen. Local residents turn out to be surprisingly tolerant of his flamboyant style, especially handsome young rancher Rob Lovely, who proves to be much more than a cowboy stereotype. Just as Matty requires a firm hand to perform his best on the ice, Rob shows him how strong he can be when he relinquishes control in the bedroom. With new-found self-assurance, he drives himself harder to go straight to the top.
But competition has a timetable, and to achieve his Olympic dream, Matty will have to join his new coach in New York City, leaving Rob behind. Now he must face the ultimate test. Has he truly learned how to win—on and off the ice—during his training season?

I Contain Multitudes: Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, Straight, Male, Female #LGBT #hetero

So, you know, I don’t know if this is because I’m a writer or if it’s because I’m weird, but I feel like there are all kinds of sexualities and people inside of me that just don’t have an expression in my physical form and me as I live my life now. I often talk about “my inner straight man” or “my inner lesbian” or “my inner gay man” and I think people think I’m kidding. I’m not. My inner straight dude totally has a type and I get really hot and bothered and entirely flaily whenever I am around someone who meets his criteria. If I had a penis and was a straight dude, I’d have to ask the woman on a date or find a way to be closer to her. Alas, the reality I live in is I’m a woman, without a dick, and I’m straight, and liked dudes. But…that guy is still in me. He’s still feeling really adoring of these beautiful chicks that he’d totally want to make babies with and do manly chores for.

My inner straight men would really like to get to know this woman better, okay? Like in a naked way.

My lesbian also has a type and that kind of woman is entirely different from the inner straight man’s preferred lady. She’s even marginally different from the actual, for-real, totally me-as-a-exist-in-the-real-world’s tiny bit of bisexuality. I’m really not very bisexual, but there has been exactly one woman that I’d have been persuaded to share some passionate months with if I wasn’t married and monogamous.

For the record, the guitarist here? This is her. If I’d been a) younger, b) unmarried, c) not with my now-husband, then I’d have let this woman show me some really stellar months and maybe years before I had to go back to men. Unf. She’s so damn hot. The only woman really-truly-exists-in-reality-me has ever been attracted to in my life.

Otherwise, the women that I find myself attracted to are really the province of the inner-lesbian. The gay woman who doesn’t get to live out her life in my skin because, well, I’m not her, but I am her. It’s weird. Like I feel like I’d need to look and just be different to ever really allow her to express herself. But, yes, her type of lady, the ones she gets all roused and hot over are not at all like the ladies my inner straight man likes. (Though, interestingly, neither my inner straight man or my inner lesbian like the media-ready model of a gorgeous woman. They like real, actual women, with real actual bodies and oddities.)

My inner lesbian is fond of the Samantha Brown type. Warm, feminine, and down-to-earth feeling.

Inner gay dude’s type of man is 180 degrees different from my actual straight-lady-who-lives-in-this-straight-body type of guy. If I was a gay man, I’d want some moderately effeminate twinky guy for sure, but as a straight lady, I like “bear” types for lack of a better description. When I think about what my inner gay man wants, I feel taller, stronger, more focused and determined and would totally, definitely need a penis and a prostate. The kind of gay guys he’d be interested in would not be at all attractive to me as a viable sex partner. And yet inner gay dude is totally me, too. He’s just gay-dude me and he’ll never get to live an actual life, just like straight-dude me won’t, and lesbian me won’t either. It’s like they’re some AU version of Leta that exist on a plane that simply can’t touch reality.

Straight-me wants nothing to do with this kid, but inner gay dude? He’d top the hell out of him and then do it again…and then probably take him home to his mama and maybe one day get married, because he’s heteronormative like that.

Anyone else have these inner people that are you but aren’t? They aren’t characters either, they’re much more solidly me than any of my characters ever are, but they aren’t me, either, and they’ll never get to live outside of urges and attractions that don’t fit my life or my body. So, let me know…am I alone in this sense of different selves? Or do you have any of this, too?

Selfish, Wrong, Right, Knew It All Along #music #dashboardconfessional

The main character from my ’90s Coming of Age Novel has latched onto this song as his personal anthem. That was unexpected but…makes sense.