Leta Blake's Blog, page 64
January 11, 2014
MSP1 Jeremy Abbott 2014 US Champs – YouTube #jeremyabbott #figureskating
When Jeremy’ s on, he’s ON. Here’s hoping he doesn’t psych himself out tomorrow for the long. *bounces* Dayum, son, this was gorgeous work!
MSP1 Jeremy Abbott 2014 US Champs – YouTube.
Cloud On My Tongue and Decimate: Training Season Extras! #music #davidford #toriamos
As I mentioned in a previous post, I always write to music. The following songs definitely influenced or inspired aspects of Training Season. This first song? Absolutely inspired the meet-cute in the book.
For some reason, “Decimate” by David Ford has always been Rob’s song in my mind. I’m not sure why, but I think this represents how he feels about Matty. I’d listen to this one when I was trying to figure him out. If anyone can figure out what makes this a Rob song, let me know. 
Blood Jacket #pregnancy #milwaukee #winter
I was looking for something else entirely and found this old bit of writing. I don’t think I had any plans for it. It was never intended to be more than this. It was written in response to a photo taken by an acquaintance of mine. I, uh, can’t find the photo. I’m sure I have it on a computer somewhere. She took it in Milwaukee, though, and looked a lot like this shot, but was not this shot.
Blood Jacket
Long-johns weren’t the cotton pajamas that she’d worn to sleep in growing up. No, they were slinky, silky and stretched so tight over her legs that she almost forgot about them except for the amazing layer of warmth they provided, all the more noticeable because now that she was pregnant, they didn’t fit quite right, and her lower legs weren’t covered, leaving them exposed to the biting wind which her jeans didn’t even begin to block out.
Layers. Layers upon layers.
Out tonight, with her camera, she’d worn a sweater, a turtleneck shirt, and long-johns, and then there was her skin, her organs, her uterus, and another living person kicking away in there. The baby’s movements were a constant reminder that she was just another layer another life.
She’d always believed that when she was pregnant, she’d feel like she knew the child as it grew within her, but most of the time she felt occupied by a stranger, and while that didn’t lessen her devotion to the new person inside, it did make it strange at times. It was like she had a constant witness to her life, someone whose judgments and thoughts she did not know: a friend or foe?
She turned the corner and saw the river icing over, as it did every winter since she’d arrived. The South and its mild winters now seemed like a fairytale that she told herself. Once upon a time there was a land of great warmth and beauty, where the grass stayed green even in January.
It wasn’t that she hated the cold, it just made her feel trapped. Trapped in layers and layers of clothes. Trapped in small heated apartments. Trapped by cold air that burned her lungs as she raised the camera and took her first shot of the night.
Another step forward, a small hunching of her shoulders for the perfect composition, and the shutter snapped. Not digital. Not yet. But she could feel the pull, the allure of the pixels calling to her. There was the ease, the lack of expense, the fact that her favorite photo developing shop was closing down for want of business. The world was moving forward into the future, taking her with it, and this was the world her daughter would be born into.
The weight in her pelvis seemed to hold her fixed to the pavement, even drilling down into the earth, pinning her to this world. The ice shone on the river, and the buildings reached up into the glowing city-night sky. She paused and breathed deeply. Luminescence poured over her from the scene ahead, and raising her camera, she took a picture of a different kind of layers: the city’s layers.
These represented simple reality, layers of beauty and light, while her own reality was layers of confusion and illusion. What was she in this world? A photographer? A woman? A mother? Or a blood jacket for a growing stranger? All of the above.
January 6, 2014
Guest Post and Giveaway: Training Season by Leta Blake — Joyfully Jay #mmromance #aneros
Guest Post and Giveaway: Training Season by Leta Blake — Joyfully Jay.
Click the above link to read a deleted scene from Training Season and comment for a chance at a free copy!
Training Season can be purchased at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, ARe, and Smashwords. Coming soon to iBooks.
Heteronormativity or Misogyny? How About Both! #lgbt #gay #mmromance
Interesting discussion at Brandonshire’s blog about heteronormativity in M/M Romance. I replied there with the following and wanted to post it my comment on my blog. It’s a bit out of context, but I think sense can be made of it. Otherwise, you can check it out at Brandon’s blog for full contextual understanding.
**
What you’re describing is not actually this, “Even the most effeminate gay men are still that, they are men, they aren’t women, they shouldn’t be written like women” but rather this, “That is writing a stereotype of a woman, who is not a woman.” Because what you’re describing are BADLY WRITTEN CHARACTERS. Women don’t behave in those ways either.
So, to me, the issue is not if the gay man is effeminate, or horny, or not horny, or “alpha male”, or whatever else…the issue is whether or not they are written as well-rounded, true-to-life human beings. Basically, when I see people complaining about gay men being written like women, I start wondering just how they see WOMEN, you know? I mean, when was the last time I read a woman in a book–especially a romance–that I related to as a woman? It’s sadly been awhile.
So, I have no problem with you or anyone else pointing out that some of the characterizations of gay men (and of women) in books are deeply problematic because they are unrealistic, stereotypical, and lacking in creativity, but I guess I do end up having a problem with the idea that it is because the men are being portrayed as ‘like women’…because generally I don’t even know any women who behave like these stereotypical characters we see in books.
Maybe a better phrasing would be “gay men who behave like the worst and most unrealistic stereotypes of women”. That’s a phrasing I could probably get behind.
**I have been told that I should shut up about this and that female authors of m/m can write whatever they want because women are the biggest readers of the genre.**
and
**I’ve had gay friends of mine (authors) who were told by female readers of the genre that their gay men were wrong, because they didn’t fit how they see gay men.**
Well, obviously, that’s shitty and short-sighted and homophobic and fetishizing on the part of those who have said these things. I’m certainly not expressing that opinion. I’m just challenging the idea that these characters are written “like women” because I think that they’re just crappily written characters who are not like women at all.
Hope this made sense! I haven’t had my coffee yet!
January 5, 2014
Stunned, Shocked and Bewildered #mmromance #gay #amreading
“I am stunned. I am shocked. I am bewildered, beholden and breathless at what I have just read. What did I just read? A wonderful story? The most complete love story that I have come across? A gorgeous tale of love, hope, loss, acceptance, forgiveness and just a stunning tale…all of the above? You bet your sweet ass.”
— A Review of Training Season by Leta Blake, by The Risque Redhead Reviews.
Another really touching and amazing review of my book, Training Season. I’m so amazed! Thrilled you enjoyed it so much!
Training Season can be purchased at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, ARe, and Smashwords. Coming soon to iBooks.
January 4, 2014
It's Officially "Training Season", And Leta Blake Wants To Give Away A Book!
Reblogged from The Novel Approach:
TNA: Hi, Leta, welcome to The Novel Approach. We’re thrilled to have you here with us today. Why don’t we start out by having you tell us a little bit about yourself: hobbies, interests, things that make you, you.
Leta: Thanks for having me, Lisa!
As for what makes me, me, I think the motto I have on my website sums me up well: author, human, and working hard to become stellar at life.
I'm over at The Novel Approach today! Lisa interviewed me and I was my usual goofy self! Go have a look and comment for a chance to win a copy of Training Season!
Olympic #figureskating: Russians — Doin’ It Their Way! #trankov #russia
Only in Russia could the reigning pairs champion skip the pre-Olympic Nationals (knowing he and his partner will be named to the team) and actually work as a commentator in the booth as Maxim Trankov did this week in Sochi. Russian figure skating certainly…
And Keira’s blogging about skating again! Read it. She knows all the things and explains them so well. Also, while I’ve always found Plushenko entertaining, if not a beautiful skater, I’ve got all the schadenfreude over that podium pic right there! Click above to go to Keira’s blog to read more.
***
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?
Training Season can be purchased at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, ARe, and Smashwords. Coming soon to iBooks.
The Promise & At This Point In My Life: Training Season Extras! #tracychapman #music
I almost always write with a soundtrack. Either music is playing as I write, or I have certain songs in my mind that capture the vibe of what I’m going for with a certain section of the book. Sometimes it’s the lyrics that speak to me and other times it’s the music. In this case, it was definitely both.
The last third of Training Season was stamped with these two songs. I had them on repeat as I worked out the end of the book. I wanted the tenderness and growth to be all over those words.
The words at 4:19 through the end of the song are what I wanted Matty to be expressing during that part of the book.
Oh, this song. Is there anyone on earth who doesn’t have the feelings in them that this song expresses? Matty definitely had them and I wanted there to be that kind of longing and tenderness in the book. I hope I succeeded.
