M.Q. Barber's Blog, page 7

Tuesdays with Jay No. 7: Man Down

The guys have been busy in the last week; they’re getting eager for the release of Becoming His Master, which is technically the fourth book in the Neighborly Affection series but can be read first chronologically.

Henry visited Sexpert.com (NSFW site, as if you couldn’t tell from the name) to talk about his feelings for Jay and share an excerpt from Becoming His Master.

Jay followed up with a sweet stop at LOVExtra.com, sharing a different excerpt from Becoming His Master and talking a bit abo...

Henry and Jay, finally revealed

I know some of you have been waiting a long while for this one — Henry would be thoroughly impressed by your patience.

USA Today’s HEA blog has the exclusive cover reveal for Becoming His Master today. Click to go see what the guys are up to.

I’ll be adding the cover to the site this weekend, but the pre-order links are already up if you don’t want to wait. Henry and Jay’s origin story will arrive in March:

Becoming His Master (Neighborly Affection #4)

From rescue to romance…

Teach a wounded subm...

Win a signed paperback of Crossing the Lines (Neighborly Affection #2)

Henry, Alice, and Jay’s second outing arrived just as unexpectedly as the first.

Because the universe never rains but it pours, naturally Crossing the Lines (Neighborly Affection #2) arrived at my door in the midst of all the book signing excitement. One of these days, I’m going to bust my own eardrums with all the squealing.

I want to share that excitement with everyone who loves Henry, Alice, and Jay. The trade paperbacks of Crossing the Lines will be in Books-A-Million stores in January, but...

Tuesdays with Jay No. 6: Kept Man

As excited as Jay was to show off Becoming His Master with Henry in last month’s newsletter, he was naturally a little bummed to miss out on sharing his own voice.

To make up for it, I let him run wild with Tuesdays with Jay this month, and boy did he have a lot to say! Newsletter subscribers, brace yourself for a double-length story from Jay on Saturday, Nov. 15.

If you haven’t subscribed yet, it’s as easy as entering your email address below and confirming by clicking a link in the automated...

From trepidation to elation to exhaustion: The life cycle of a book signing

My husband snapped this photo when I wasn’t looking. It’s a safe bet I’m agonizing over how best to express my gratitude for having such supportive fans of Henry, Jay, and Alice.

Having no idea what to expect from my first book signing, I kick-started my day with two hours of sleep, a boatload of nausea-inducing nerves, and the absolute certainty that I would manage to misspell my own name before the day was done.

A writer’s imagination is a wonderful thing, except when it’s a terrible thing.

A...

It’s here! Playing the Game at Books-A-Million stores

Henry, Alice, and Jay make their bookstore debut with Playing the Game (Neighborly Affection #1) at Books-A-Million. Is it creepy if I stand in the aisle and pet them? Yeah, that’s probably creepy. We’re good with hugs, though, right?

I’ve been flailing like a madwoman all week with nervous energy for the trade paperback print release of Playing the Game (Neighborly Affection #1) in Books-A-Million stores.

My mother-in-law (unlike the stereotype, we get along fantastically) sent me the first pr...

Get the first look at Neighborly Affection #4

The votes are in, and the newsletter subscribers have spoken.

The vote was extremely close. The first rush of votes put Becoming His Master out in front 2-to-1, but the Tuesdays with Jay fans rallied to a near upset. The winner edged out the runner-up by a single vote. Thank you to everyone who took the time to email in their vote!

The October newsletter will include a scene from Becoming His Master (Neighborly Affection #4). Since it’s a first look, it seemed only fair to make the scene a “fir...

Swag: How does that work?

Magnets, that’s how.

I’m going on my first real outing as an author Sunday, a decision that launched the full-blown panic of oh my God, I have nothing to hand out!

(The dog loves it when I panic — she thinks the jumpy turning-in-circles dance is a great game.)

In the last week, I’ve designed my first business card and my first piece of book swag: a postcard-sized magnet for the Neighborly Affection series.

Copies of Playing the Game (Neighborly Affection #1) in print, magnets with Henry adjustin...

Special delivery: Playing the Game in print

I love getting real mail delivered. Not junk mail; that’s boring. But a letter or a package with my name on it? Thrill.

Today I got a huge (and heavy!) thrill — my author copies of Playing the Game (Neighborly Affection #1) in print arrived. Completely unexpected!

Opening up a print copy for the first time. You can’t tell how my hand’s shaking, right?

You know new-book smell, right? For me, it’s an addiction that demands I curl up in the recliner and disappear into fiction-world for hours on end...

Tuesdays with Jay No. 5: Promise Kept

Jay’s back with the fifth in his series of monthly meditations on the developing relationship he shares with Henry and Alice. This month’s tale for newsletter subscribers is Tuesdays with Jay No. 5: Promise Kept.

For anyone just jumping on board, the Tuesdays with Jay stories start at the beginning of the trio’s arrangement in Playing the Game (Neighborly Affection #1) and progress week by week through every lunch date Jay and Alice share.

In a lucky bit of overlap, the September newsletter s...