Huston Piner's Blog, page 8

Suggestions?

I will be guest hosting at Torquere Press' Happy Hour's Journal later this month. I would appreciate any suggestions regarding what I should include. I've noticed that some folks give updates on favorite hobbies or projects while others talk about their published works or WIPs. My hobbies (reading, listening to music, watching Teen Wolf and Supernatural, hitting the gym, occasionally, when I remember it, when I motivate my lasses butt) probably wouldn't translate well. I do have a WIP I’m working on, but with only one published book, I don’t really know what’s typical/expected of this kind of thing. I suppose I could think up some short piece to include.

Any thoughts?

You can offer suggestions via comment or messaging me.

Thanks! :)

Huston Piner

Book Giveaway Winners!

Congratulations to Donald, Eirelyn, and Laken on winning autographed hardcopies of My Life as a Myth !

And my thanks to everyone who entered!

I hope you all enjoy reading Myth as much as I enjoyed writing it.

My Life as a Myth reviewed on Rainbow Book Reviews (and Goodreads!)

Wow! I'm honored beyond words; My Life as a Myth has been reviewed by Rainbow Book Reviews. It's also available here on Goodreads. My thanks to Jamie Deacon for such a positive review.

Rainbow Book Reviews is an all volunteer, non-profit site dedicated to GLBTQ-related books, reviews, and authors who write about topics of interest to the GLBTQ community and its allies. It's a very well-laid-out resource with tons of great reviews, interviews, and other info. Check it out and bookmark it. You'll be glad you did!

By the way, Jamie (whose book Caught Inside will be coming out later this year) also works for Boys on the Brink, another excellent site that focuses on gay fiction for young adults. BOTB has everything from book reviews and news on the latest literary awards, to giveaways and interviews with both new and established authors in the field. Jamie will be interviewing me next week, so keep an eye out!

Featured Author Today on True Colorz

My thanks to Jackie Nacht and all at the True Colorz review site for making me today's featured author. Drop by and leave a comment!

In case you've been living in a cave, True Colorz is one of the top Internet resources dedicated exclusively to Young Adult LGBTQ literature. It's truly breath-taking in its scope, with a YA reading list (listed by title), an author directory (with links to websites), and a directory of YA LGBTQ publishers so you can go straight to the source if you're having trouble finding a particular book. Other highlists include monthly updates and information on new releases, featured author interviews, recommended reads and, perhaps most importantly, a full selection of books & resources related to bullying.

Really, I can't recommend True Colorz enough and encourage you all to check it out!

A Fourth of July Thank You

July fourth is the day Americans (also known as "citizens of the United States" to the rest of the inhabitants of North America) celebrate their nation's founding and give thanks for the liberties we love and too seldom fully appreciate.

In that spirit, I want to thank Elisa Rolle. If you don't know who Elisa Rolle is, check out this entry from the Chicks & Dicks review site, which I might add is also well worth bookmarking.

Why am I thanking Elisa, besides her truly ground-breaking work in providing, if not the very first, an early home for gay book reviews? I'm also thanking her for including My Life as a Myth among the contenders for the 2013 Rainbow Awards.

Thanks to Orion at Reviews by Jessiewave

I can't help it (okay, I probably could, but I'm new at this "author" business and this early in the game ego boosts are appreciated), complimentary reviews make my day. As it happens, they often also provide the opportunity to plug great review sites that I've visited and benefited from following.

One very good review site is Reviews by Jessiewave. Active since 2008, Reviews by Jessiewave is a huge repository of excellent, professional reviews of the M/M genre. It basically covers the definitively adult variety of M/M literature, but includes some young adult. I was honored enough to be listed on Jessiewave's site at all, but blown away when I read the review of My Life as a Myth from Orion, one of Jessie's regular contributors.

When a hopeful writer sets out to brave the world and share his/her dreams (because that's what a book is), unless he/she has the kind of ego that breaks diamonds, a negative review can be shattering. Of course, one of the first things you learn (hopefully) is that you've got to treat your book as a now-grown-up child who must stand or fall without your supervision. If someone doesn't like your book, you have to chalk it up, in the words of the old adage, to "horses for courses" and move on. Not doing so is not only rude, it's petty.

That said, that someone actually took the time to read and write positively about a book you wrote is more thrilling than being a freshman asked out by the twelfth grade man of your dreams.

So my thanks to Orion and Jessiewave for the flattering and complimentary review of My Life as a Myth. I appreciate it more than you can know.

True Colorz Featured Author

Jackie Nacht has notified me that I will be the True Colorz review site featured author on July ninth. You can look forward to an interview and discussion about My Life as a Myth and writing in general. Drop by and leave a comment!

As you all know, True Colorz is one of the top Internet resources dedicated exclusively to Young Adult LGBTQ literature. It features monthly updates and information on new releases, featured author interviews, recommended reads and, most importantly, a full selection of books & resources related to bullying.

Really, I can't recommend True Colorz enough and encourage you all to check it out, especially on July 9th!

Stonewall Award Nomination

All I can say is "Wow!"

My thanks to those who have nominated My Life as a Myth for the 2014 American Library Association Stonewall Award in Children's and Young Adult Literature.

Words can't express how deeply moved and honored I feel.

My thanks to all the fine people at Torquere Press and Prizm Books and, again, to those who nominated Myth!

Hosting Torquere Blog Today!

Today I'm hosting the Torquere Press Romance for the Rest of Us blog. There's an interview, and later today there will be a video playlist of music from Nick and Bobby's second semester at Chadham High and maybe one or two other tidbits for fans of My Life as a Myth.

Myth now in paperback.

My Life as a Myth is now available in paperback from Amazon.