Michael War's Blog, page 7

Upcoming Re-release of Sorts: Timeless

I have some exciting news: I just signed a contract with JMS Books for my latest short story Timeless: A Sensual Time Travel Adventure. Well, latest in that it will be coming out some time in June. But this title does have a bit of a history.

Jump back to 2012. I had just learned about self-publishing (late to the game, I know) and tried my hand at writing something. I did my research and saw that some people had written some gay romance shorts for sale, so I figured, hey why not. I came up with the idea of a time-traveling scientist who got lost in prehistoric times and hooks up with a hot caveman. Yup, that’s it. When I was done, I was sure I had a hit on my hands. Suffice it to say, the first reviews were brutal.

I wrote a sequel to it a few months down the road, which fared a bit better with the reviews, but I still had a lot to learn. Eventually I took them both down and decided not to release them again until I had thoroughly reworked them.

Well, it took five years, but I think I have improved the story a bit. It’s still sci-fi-esque, but with some key changes and a longer length (pun intended.) I’m excited to see what you all think when it’s released. While I wait for the first round of edits, I’m going to start working on the sequel and hopefully have that re-released soon. Not mention the two novellas that are still in progress.

It turns out that 2018 is a very productive year.

One Day at a Time: A Show You Need to See!

Today is going to be a change of pace for me. Now I know I normally talk about myself and what’s going with my books, but today I thought I would write about a show that I fell in love with last year that just released its second season on Netflix. That show is the reboot of One Day at a Time, and if you have been skeptical of reboots in the past, this show will blow those thoughts out of the water. Exceptional in almost every way, ODAAT is that rare show that can hit all your emotions at once.  I can honestly say that I have never laughed, cried, and cheered so much in my life.

ODAAT centers on a Cuban-American, led by Army veteran Penelope Alvarez (a wonderful Justina Machado, finally getting her due), a single mom who works hard to provide for her family while also struggling with PTSD. Her two kids couldn’t be any more different. Oldest daughter Elena (Isabella Gomez) is a social justice warrior, a fighter for the most vulnerable who also is recently came out to her family. Younger Alex (Marcel Ruiz) is a charmer in the making, and the apple of his abuela’s (the legendary Rita Moreno, whose star burns up the screen) eye.  Throw in an updated Schneider (a warm and funny Todd Grinnell) and you’ve got a top-notch set of characters.

I don’t want to give too much away, but make sure you have your tissues nearby because you’ll need them. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a show hit so many familiar notes so perfectly. As a LatinX male who also happens to be gay, so many of the situations and conversations had on the show could have easily happened at my childhood kitchen table. The strength is in the realness, and ODAAT is as real as they come.

But it’s also extremely funny, which is what we look for in a comedy. So if you haven’t streamed the show at all, I recommend starting from season 1 before heading to the stronger season 2. Trust me, it’s worth the binge.

 

Excerpt: Reaching Nerdvana

The 6th of January is almost here, which means that my latest short will finally be available for you all to see! But first, here is a sneak peek of what’s inside:

Reaching Nerdvana Excerpt:

Note: may contain sexually explicit scenes of a homoerotic nature.

The bouncer looked it over, then at the roses in my hand. “Proposal or apology?”

I looked at my feet.

“Never mind, I got it. Good luck, cutie.” He pulled open the door.

I smiled, took another deep breath, and walked into the loud, smoke-filled den in search of my boyfriend. I started with the front bar, then made my way onto the little patio off to the side. When I couldn’t find him there, I checked the crowded dance floor before scoping out the lounge in the back. I saw some of our mutual friends, sitting and chatting and having a good time. That is, until I approached.

Suddenly, everything stopped.

 I guess Jimmy told them what happened.

I decided to keep things direct. “Hey there, have any of you seen Jimmy? I have something I want to give him.” I held up the roses.

Mark stood and pulled me off to the side while the others resumed chatting. They occasionally looked our way, then huddled back together in their secret circle.

“Kel, I have to be honest. This probably isn’t a good time to find Jimmy.” It was hard to hear Mark over the music, but I got the gist.

I, however, refused to give up so easily. “Please, Mark, this is important. I need to know where he is.”

He glanced at the rest of the group as if seeking help, but they all looked away and continued whispering among themselves. Mark turned back to me, a lost expression in his eyes. I could almost see the wheels in his head turning as he tried his best to come up with a story that would make sense to me.

“The last time I saw him, he said he was going to get some air.”

“So, he is here? But he wasn’t on the patio and I didn’t see him on my way in.”

“I don’t know, maybe you missed him.” Mark gave me an awkward silence before continuing. “Let me give you some advice, Kel. Just go home and wait till he calls you. It will all blow over soon. Don’t push him while he’s still upset.”

I appreciated the advice, but Mark was the last person I really wanted to hear this from. He’d never really liked me, and had always tried to keep me away from Jimmy by calling me a loser, a child, and other names simply because I liked to play video games. In other words, I could be the one to cure the world of all its problems, but as long as I enjoyed a game of Mario or wore a Ghostbusters T-shirt, I was still not worth it.

“Thanks, but I think I’ll look around once more.”

Mark shrugged and headed back to our gaggle of friends.

I walked around the crowded sections one more time, and when I couldn’t find Jimmy, I figured he’d probably left and that I should do the same. Maybe I could go to his place, I wondered. Or would that be a bad idea?

Halfway to my car, I noticed another vehicle’s backseat door open. I continued walking, but out of the corner of my eye, I recognized one of the two people stepping out — Jimmy.

The three of us stood there, not sure of what to say. The silence allowed my anger to build until I couldn’t take it anymore. I threw my roses at Jimmy, then ran to my car. Or so I thought.

Instead, I’d actually headed back in the direction of the club, and before I knew it, I was back inside. Seeing the friends apparently more loyal to Jimmy walking toward the door, I made a swift turn into the bathroom. I stumbled to the sink and began splashing water on my face.

“So, we meet again. How did the roses work out?” a voice said from behind.

I lifted my eyes to the mirror and saw the supermarket cashier from earlier. I looked at myself and realized my face was all red and my eyes were a bit watery from almost crying.

“Are you okay?” he asked, walking closer. “Look, I didn’t mean to pry. I just remembered you from earlier and didn’t see the flowers, so I figured … well I don’t know what I figured. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have –”

“No, it’s okay. I’m fine. Or I will be. Let’s just say that I gave him the roses, just not in the way I had planned. Now all I want to do is go home, but I might run into him with his — I’m not sure what to call it.”

He flashed me a different kind of smile than the one from earlier, this one full of concern, which oddly enough provided some comfort. “Would it help if I walked out with you?”

Even though I didn’t know him, the thought of running into Jimmy was too much to bear, so I agreed.

“I’m Gunnar, by the way,” he said.

Weekend Update: Editing and Marketing, with a Nap in the Middle

My bug plans were to finally binge The Crown this weekend, but unfortunately, that didn’t happen. Nope, instead, I spent the weekend sending requests for reviews for Reaching Nerdvana and editing Under Five. The marketing side has always been my weakness, and I hope to better this time around.

I’ve thought of setting up a blog tour but does anyone do that for such a short piece? I guess I could wait until Under Five is ready, and just try to focus on doing guest posts in the meantime. I think I am finally at a point where I know I will actually work hard enough to get my name out there. I know the chances of fame and fortune are slim, but that really isn’t my goal. I just want to be able to write stories people enjoy, and maybe make a few extra dollars here and there.

How do you feel you rank when it comes to marketing?

Cover Reveal: Reaching Nerdvana

So the time has finally come to where I can reveal the cover for my latest story Reaching Nerdvana. It’s been a long hard road to finally get back to writing, but I am actually glad I did. I first want to thank JMS Books for the opportunity to submit to the call they had. It was a challenge to write a gamer theme, but being a former one I had a lot of inspiration to pull from. Plus I just find dorky guys so hot.

Well, enough babbling. Here is what you all have been waiting for:

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Makes me swoon every time I see it. Here’s the blurb from the JMS Coming Soon page link, which you can use to purchase your copy when it’s released on January 6th:

At twenty-three, Kel is buff but awkward. He hates going to clubs but loves to play online games. His current boyfriend Jimmy would rather go out and dance the night away, and often makes fun of Kel for wanting to stay home. After a bad fight, Kel catches Jimmy cheating on him and they break up. Later, Kel later tries to ignite a spark with a local hunk named Gunnar, but their first kiss ends in disaster and the rest of their date is even worse.Heartbroken and alone, Kel retreats to the online 3D game world of New Life, a virtual earth where people can meet others with similar interests … including naughty ones. At one of his favorite fantasy clubs, Kel becomes intensely involved with Darius, a black knight with a penchant for dominance. Their first meetup is slightly kinky online fun, and soon they realize they have more in common than they first thought.When Darius wants to move things to the next level, Kel isn’t so sure. Is he ready to make their online relationship reality?Do you all wanna play with Kel?

Update: Title Reveal for my first full novel

In my last post, I mentioned that I had signed a contract with JMS Books LLC for my short Finding Nerdvana. Well,  that isn’t the only book I have coming up. During the summer, I signed a contract with Less Than Three books for my first full-length novel. I have published with them before, and have had a wonderful experience each time. It’s currently being edited, and once I get more information, I will spill more details.

However, right now I can reveal the title: Under Five. I was going to put a blurb, but then I thought it might be fun to see what people think it means in the comments below.

Some Updates: Closed Doors, Open Windows

So I guess becoming older and wiser really does happen. After being rejected by Carina Press for their Dirty Bits call, I decided to revise the story, make it a bit longer, and then send it out to some other publishers who had calls for specific submissions. This made me think about how I would have reacted when I started doing this about six years ago, and how a rejection or negative review would have made me want to give up right away. But not this time.

Now that I know better, I realized that someone saying no is not the end of the world and that when a door closes, you can always find an open window somewhere. That window came when I did a search for submissions and found out that JMS Books LLC had one for books that were game-themed. My latest, Finding Nerdvana, centers on a hunky nerd that loves online games, so I thought it would be perfect. So I fixed it up, added a few more scenes to develop the characters and sent it in. I got the contract today and signed. I’m really excited, and can’t wait to share more details the closer we get to the release date?

How do you deal with rejection?

How Big is Too Big?

While I’m not going to get in the whole does sex make a book romance debate (which I know a lot of people have an opinion on), I think everyone can agree that great sex scenes can be hard to write at times. That is because you want them to be a fantasy, but still based on some type of reality.  Which often leads me to wonder about one thing: when writing about a love interest’s anatomy, how big is too big?

I’ve read a lot of m/m and gay romance, and most of them pretty much stay in the 8 to 9 inch range. That’s the one I use as well in my writing, since it is big enough to entice, but also still believable in possiblity. Then there are those that really go for it and head out to 11 to 13 inches, which to me, seems a bit much. I know that those monsters really do exist, but it’s not something that I can easily picture when I read about them in a book. I also feel that size isn’t the only part of a great fantasy, and needs to be combined with intense descriptions in order to make the most impact. But that’s just my opinion, and others may feel differently. I guess it really is a matter of taste.

What do you think? Does size play into the fantasy, or is it only a small part (sorry, I had to pun)?

Dilemma: Writing what you love vs. writing what sells

As a self-published author, I used to visit message boards quite frequently. One such board was the KDP section for authors. While I cannot deny that I got many helpful tips, you had to do a bit of research to find them among the billions of posts that featured self-promotion, a plea for reviews, or just some good ol’ whining and infighting. It got to the point where I finally had to avoid it altogether.  Until last week. 

 Curiosity got the better of me, and I just couldn’t help myself. Things still seemed the same there, though I was able to find one topic that actually got me thinking. Another newbie was wondering why their books weren’t selling, and many chimed in with the following piece of advice: you need to research what is selling at the moment and write about that if you expect to make any money. The authors particular niche was a hard sell, and many commented that another genre would probably be more profitable. 

The reason why this caught my eye is because on Twitter I saw people giving the opposite advice. This time, veterans were telling newbies to write what you love, or else your work will seem fake. This made a lot of sense, especially is you don’t have passion for the subject. After all, if you don’t give a flip about shifters, why would you write about them?

While I know that the answer is a bit more complicated, since success also includes marketing and other factors, I can’t help but feel that the truth lies somewhere in between. I love writing romance/erotica, especially contemporary romance involving men who find themselves in semi-relatable situations. I’ve read plenty from great authors, and also researched the types of tropes people expect to see in those type of books. Why did I do it? Because I love the genre and I want my books to appeal to readers. I may try something new every now and then, but some of the elements that make my writing me will always be there. 

So while making money isn’t a bad goal to have, you shouldn’t let that be the driving force for your work. You also need to love what you write about, that way your passion will shine through. 

Which side do you take on this? 

Update on my current read: Summer School by Tam Ames

So I finally finished Summer School by Tam Ames, and I must say that I was pleasantly surprised by how much I like it. That’s not to say that I thought it was perfect, however, the romance was quite nice, and I enjoyed that the complications that came through were very low angst. My favorite part was the handling of the ex, which while throwing in a wrinkle, wasn’t handled in the way that made it cliche. What did bother me about the book was that some of the lines of dialogue and phrases pulled me out of the story because I was left wondering if anyone would ever say that. As a writer who is guilty of that myself, I truly understand how hard it is to not be repetitive, so you try to come up with clever pieces that don’t always work out to well. That’s why it doesn’t bother me the way it would anyone else. Overall, I must say that I really liked the book and found it to be a rather quick and enjoyable read. The two leads were relatable, and the sex scenes were hot but not over the top. Now on to the next book, which is Spirit by  John Inman.