Eli Easton's Blog, page 6
May 7, 2019
Eli's Favs: Made for You by Anyta Sunday
I adored this book. I think it's my new number one from Anyta Sunday, which is saying a lot. It's slow burn romance , may-december, with hurt-comfort elements. Those are my favorite things in a romance.
We have two brothers -- Ben and Milo. Ben is trying to raise his little brother Milo after their parents are killed, but he's not quite making it. Between emotional issues, trying to work enough to pay the bills, and Milo acting out, Ben is drowning.
Enter Jack, one of Milo's teachers, and a guy who fixes up houses to flip in his spare time. When he sees the difficulties the brothers are in, he offers to help them fix up the family home for sale. Ben is much younger than Jack, but he's immediately attracted to him. Jack, though, tries to keep Ben strictly in the friend-zone because of the delicate situation, all while falling for the Ben-Milo-and Me family dynamic.
So well-written and excellent all around. I highly recommend!
April 17, 2019
FALLING DOWN - Now out in Audiobook & Paperback
I’ve been working on these elements for a while, and I’m so happy to finally be able to post this. Falling Down has a brand new audiobook and paperback available! And even a new cover on the ebook version.
About the book:
I started Falling Down while on a walking trip in the UK around the UK 2016 meet. The main plot ideas and the first chapters were dictating while I was walking by myself along the Thames long-distance path. And I think this infused a lyrical, nature-focused, lonely tone to the book which is unlike any of my other books. I really like it.
The story is about a young homeless guy, Josh, who was kicked out by his stepdad after his mother died unexpectedly. He is left traumatized by his mother’s death and his head is not at all in a healthy space. She always talked about one day going to see the fall leaves in New England (they live in Alabama), so Josh gets the idea to take a bus to New Hampshire, see the fall leaves, and then, when the snow comes, to just lie down in the snow and give up.
But when John gets to New Hampshire and finds a bridge to camp out under, he runs into a local, Mark, who is an ex-Marine with trauma of his own he’s trying to heal. Mark feels sorry for Josh and gives him a job helping him paint a house and also a place to sleep out of the cold. As the two men work together through the season of falling leaves, they begin to heal each other, find common ground, and fall in love. Of course, there is an HEA.
At the time I released this book in November 2016, I was really in a hurry because I had to move on to my Christmas book for that year, so I didn’t do a paperback or audiobook. But this story has stuck with me as one of my favorites, so I decided it was time to revisit it and give it the “full monty” treatment it deserved.
About the Audiobook:
For this audiobook I wanted Michael Stellman who read my book The Mating of Michael and also A Prairie Dog’s Love Song. I find his voice relaxing to listen to, and it seemed right for this project. Like The Mating of Michael, Falling Down is one of my more angsty books with a poetic, melancholy feel that I thought he could nail. Also, Josh is pretty young so I needed a young voice. Fortunately, Michael agreed to work with me on this. I really enjoyed listening to the final book, and I hope you do too.
YOU CAN LISTEN TO A SAMPLE HERE.
The new cover:
The new cover was designed by Anna Tif Sikorska. I met her at EPC in Amsterdam last year and she was so sweet. I used her for the first time on my Boy Shattered cover, which I loved. And she did a fantastic job refreshing the Falling Down cover too. Thank you!
The Paperback:
Doing paperbacks for my self-pubs is totally on me and I have to admit it often isn’t a priority. The sales are pretty low on paperbacks, and sometimes it doesn’t seem worth the effort. But then I get an email from a reader, or I meet one at a con, who says “I’d love to read this book of yours, but I only read paperback. Please consider putting one out.” And I’m like “Daawww! Of course I will! Please hug me!” So with the cover refresh and the new audiobook, it seemed like the perfect time to finally get the paperback up too. So it’s there! You can find it on the Amazon page with the ebook and audiobook. Links below.
Kindle Unlimited:
Because of the new relaunch, I’ve put the ebook back on Kindle Unlimited for 90 days.
LINKS:
Hope you enjoy this refresh and give the audiobook a try!
Eli
April 9, 2019
Autism Blog Hop - Childhood Toys
Hi, all! Welcome to my blog hop post for RJ Scott’s Autism Awareness Month. I’ve learned a lot about autism being friends with RJ and following her social media posts about her lovely son Matt. This topic deserves all the focus it can and I’m happy to take part.
AUTISM FACTAutism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) isn’t just one thing. It encompasses a range of conditions that share a difficulty in social functioning and repetitive behaviors or stereotyped interests. There are four distinct diagnoses that fall into ASD including Asperger syndrome, autistic disorder, childhood disintegrative disorder, and pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specific. Some individuals have an intellectual disability while others have average or above average intelligence.
CHILDHOOD TOYSThis year’s blog hop theme is childhood toys. Awesome. My childhood was quite a long time ago. :-) I was born in 1963 in a little town called Palmerton, Pennsylvania. Think DEER HUNTER. I am not kidding. My father was a minister in a Protestant church called Church of God. Here’s a photo of me, one of my brothers, and his friend outside our church. I was about three or four. Deer Hunter. Seriously.
As a kid, I was obsessed with books. The first thing I ever “collected” in my life were Dell Yearling books. I treasured every volume. My dad being a minister, and my mom being a homemaker, our family did not have a lot of money, so everything we got was a treasure. The books looked like this.
This was the start of my love of reading and writing. But, you say, books are not toys! This is true, but they certainly make up my most vivid memories of the objects I owned and loved as a kid.
Other things I can recall were Barbie dolls. I liked to make up stories and act them out with the dolls. Nothing sophisticated, just bopping them around and making up things they said to one another. “Oh, no you can’t bring a dog in here!” or whatever. Ha. Genius, I tell you.
I liked to incorporate anything I could find into these doll games—not just Barbies, but Ken dolls, my brother’s GI Joes, Christmas ornaments, little wooden thread bobbins I could make into furniture, plastic animals or whatever I could find. I wasn’t sophisticated enough at that age to makeup same sex couples though. More’s the pity!
Another thing I loved to play with when I was a kid was a bag of fabric squares my mom kept to “someday” make quilts with. I loved laying the blocks out on the floor or stairs to make different patterns and designs. I have no idea why, but I think it was the puzzler side of my brain showing itself.
GIVEAWAY!
Thanks for visiting my blog hop stop! As a thank you, I’m giving away a $5 Amazon gift certificate. To enter to win, just leave a comment below.
Eli
March 30, 2019
FAMILY CAMP - Win a $25 Gift Certificate on my blog tour!
FAMILY CAMP released March 28th. To celebrate, I’m doing a blog tour with Signal Boost Promotions. You can enter to win a $25 gift certificate at any of the blog tour stops.
CLICK HERE TO ENTER THE CONTEST.
Check out some of the reviews and stops so far on this page (under “What people are saying”).
EBOOK:
Amazon US - ebook and paperback
Amazon UK - ebook and paperback
READ CHAPTER 1:
Family Camp - Chapter 1
EXTRA STUFF:
Goodreads
March 28, 2019
Release day: Family Camp!
FAMILY CAMP is out today! It’s available in ebook and paperback. The ebook is on Kindle Unlimited for the first 90 days.
AMAZON US - ebook and paperback
AMAZON UK - ebook and paperback
This is a sweet, feel-good romance with little angst and lots of family feels. I think we all need a little lightness right now! I hope it makes you smile.
BLURB:
When Geo signs up for Family Camp, he envisions nature hikes, s’mores, and a chance to win over his recalcitrant new foster kids, Jayden and Lucy. He’s tried to become a dad for so long, and he hopes the three of them can be the family he’s always wanted. What he doesn’t anticipate is the prickly and gorgeous camp counselor who constantly comes to his rescue.
Travis spends a week every year at Camp Evermore, the camp his adoptive parents own. As a pro baseball player, his presence guarantees a full campground and excited campers. He has one rule: never, ever mess around with anyone at camp. His profession demands he stay in the closet. But one sweet and funny new dad is about to test all his resolve.
Sparks fly for Geo and Travis, and not because of the nightly campfire. Having been a foster kid himself, Travis is drawn to Geo’s sincerity and big heart and to his kids. The four of them just fit. But will this be a summer romance? Or can they find a way to be a family long after Family Camp is over?
About the Daddy Dearest series
This series will consist of stand-alone contemporary novels focusing on single gay dads who find hot romance. Expect laughs, sweet and sexy slow-burn romance, and lots of family feels!
March 15, 2019
Family Camp is on the way!
My next book is due out on March 28th! Here’s the cover and blurb.
BLURB:
When Geo signs up for Family Camp, he envisions nature hikes, s’mores, and a chance to win over his recalcitrant new foster kids, Jayden and Lucy. He’s tried to become a dad for so long, and he hopes the three of them can be the family he’s always wanted. What he doesn’t anticipate is the prickly and gorgeous camp counselor who constantly comes to his rescue.
Travis spends a week every year at Camp Evermore, the camp his adoptive parents own. As a pro baseball player, his presence guarantees a full campground and excited campers. He has one rule: never, ever mess around with anyone at camp. His profession demands he stay in the closet. But one sweet and funny new dad is about to test all his resolve.
Sparks fly for Geo and Travis, and not because of the nightly campfire. Having been a foster kid himself, Travis is drawn to Geo’s sincerity and big heart and to his kids. The four of them just fit. But will this be a summer romance? Or can they find a way to be a family long after Family Camp is over?
About the Daddy Dearest series
This is the first book in a new series. The series will consist of stand-alone contemporary novels focusing on single gay dads who find hot romance. Expect laughs, sweet and sexy slow-burn romance, and lots of family feels!
Look for more info in the coming 2 weeks. This book will release on Kindle Unlimited.
Eli
February 7, 2019
"Heaven Can't Wait" - Eli goes Metaphysical
My backlist special for the rest of February and March is “Heaven Can’t Wait”. It is only 99c on the Dreamspinner site. You can find it here.
This novella was published in 2014 as part of Dreamspinner’s “Daily Dose”, their summer anthology series. I think for that reason, people who didn’t subscribe to the Daily Dose may not have seen it or read it. Which is a shame, because this is one of my favorite novellas that I’ve ever written.
I’ve always been a fan of metaphorical stories. I studied philosophy for a few semesters and loved it! I almost got a masters in it, except I talked myself out of it, thinking it wasn’t practical. But as a protestant minister’s daughter, and later an uber liberal who was interested in Buddishm, New Age ideas, near-death experiences, as well as the paranormal, I’ve always been interested in what lies beyond this world and various concepts of heaven, hell, judgement, God, etc.
I remember how delighted I was when I read Anne Rice’s “Memnoch the Devil” because in it, Lucifer goes into whole chapters of discussion about creation and why he rebelled and what was wrong with God’s whole scheme. I ate up that shiz. Years later, as a thriller writer writing under the name Jane Jensen, I wrote a huge novel about the meaning of good and evil and life after death called “Dante’s Equation”.
“Heaven Can’t Wait” is the Eli Easton, lightly-tapdancing-on-the-metaphyiscal expression of that interest. In this m/m romance, an intolerant young man wakes up to find himself dead. His soul is on the tipping point between heaven and hell, so in order to redeem himself, he has to go back to Earth as a ghost and save the life of a bullied young man (and maybe find the guy a boyfriend too).
If it sounds heavy, it’s not. This is a humorous take on the subject, with our intrepid ghost Brian screwing up at every turn, and his mentor in heaven, Peter, being rather impatient and sarcastic. But despite the humor, there are some interesting ideas in the story, I think. Peter explains to Brian why people are born gay, for example. And in the end, Brian realizes a lot of what he believed when he was human is just plain wrong.
But whether the ideas interest you, or you just read it for a fun romance lark, I think you’ll enjoy “Heaven Can’t Wait”. Check it out while the sale lasts!
February 6, 2019
Last few days for my Christmas books on KU!
My previous year’s Christmas books will come off KU and go back on wide distribution on Feb 10th. So if you want to read any of them on Kindle Unlimited, do it now!
Also, my Christmas book for 2018, CHRISTMAS ANGEL, will go off KU and into wide distribution on March 1.
Here’s the Amazon link: US, UK
I hope you all had a good January. I’m working on a book called FAMILY CAMP and should be able to share a cover and blurb with you soon!
Eli
January 20, 2019
Eli's Favs: Bigger Love by Rick R Reed
It's been a while since I read Big Love, so I read this as a stand-alone. It works fine in that regard.
This YA novel is about courage--the courage to be true to yourself no matter how non-conforming that is or the cost in bullying from others. Truman, the main character, lives in a small Ohio town and he’s openly gay and quite femme presenting. He is a senior in high school and doesn't hide his light under a bushel, so to speak. His has friends and a single mom who are incredibly supportive, so this isn't a bleak story in any way, though there is some bullying.
Truman's love interest is Mike, a good-looking, butch guy who has recently moved to town. He was gay in his previous home of Seattle, but he's trying to fly under the radar in Truman's small town. Although immediately attracted to Truman, for quite a while Mike ignores him, not wanting to reveal his own homosexuality. He's a bit hot and cold with Truman, but fortunately, he ultimately steps up to the plate.
There's a high school play Truman is involved with that brings matters to a head with both the town bullies and with Mike. Fortunately, Truman handles it with aplomb and we get an HEA.
If you enjoy gay coming of age stories, you will enjoy this one by Rick Reed. As usual, his writing is terrific and I read this through without a pause. Recommended.
January 16, 2019
Honored by Goodreads M/M Romance Group Member's Choice Awards
I was over the moon when I discovered that my books won in various categories on the Goodreads M/M Romance Group's 2018 Member's Choice Awards.
BOY SHATTERED - Best Coming of Age (#1), Best Cover Art (#2), Best Dark Theme (#1), Best Out for You (#2)
ROBBY RIVERTON: MAIL ORDER BRIDE - Best Historical (#1), Best Humorous (#3)
THE LITTLE MATCHBOY - Best Free Story (#2)
There are so many releases that come out daily that readers can choose. It feels overwhelming as an author sometimes, hoping your work gets noticed and that readers enjoy your books and come to look forward to the new ones.
So thank you to the readers in the M/M Romance group who voted for my books. It really helps straighten my spine and shore up my determination to keep on keepin’ on.
By the way, some of my favorite books this year by other authors were honored too--congrats to KJ Charles, NR Walker, Anyta Sunday, RJ Scott, Amy Lane, Keira Andrews, Kim Fielding and many others!
You can see all the winners here. If you are looking for a community to share your romance love with, this is the best one on the net.
BOY SHATTERED
ROBBY RIVERTON: MAIL ORDER BRIDE
