L.E. Franks's Blog, page 8
April 5, 2014
The Grand Adventures Of A “Last First Kiss” – A RainbowCon Countdown Post By LE Franks
A little background on the writing of Last First Kiss, and an excerpt. The charity anthology Grand Adventures – a benefit for Eric Arvin & TJ Klune is now available at the usual places. It’s a wonderful collection of storytellers and if you haven’t tried any gay romantic fiction, this collection is an excellent place to start, especially since 100% of the profits & royalties are being donated by all parties involved. LE
Originally posted on The Novel Approach:
Last First Kiss
is probably the most personal story I’ve written to date.
Last summer I got a call, like so many others have gotten before me. An old friend from high school had attempted suicide. Thankfully, he survived and recovered, mostly. But those first few days of helping support his brother and tracking down the rest of our mutual friends was a nightmare.
So I began channeling my feelings into my writing; it’s what we do to cope. I started a story of three friends, closer than brothers, who grow up together, planning their lives after high school…until a kiss tears the trio apart. It takes ten years and a tragedy to bring my MC back home.
I opened it with a funeral scene drawn from a well of painful memories from the services of my grandparents—events fatally flawed by either political infighting amongst church elders (in the case…
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March 25, 2014
Life And Love Are The Grandest Adventures Of All
Please, read the blog, leave a comment, buy a book. help a friend. LE
Originally posted on The Novel Approach:
We are all born into this world a blank page, a story that’s waiting to be written, one filled with the unexpected and with infinite possibilities. Each new day seamlessly weaves us into its story, each new day’s story becoming a predication of who we are yet to be.
In short, life is indeed filled with Grand Adventures, and there’s a reason Shakespeare observed that “All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players: They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts.” It’s a rather poetic and eloquent estimation of the human condition: we, each and every one of us, tread the boards of destiny and free will; and it is drama, comedy, romance all thrown into the cauldron and stirred together, then shaped into the Us-like characters who move through this great production of being. We find…
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March 20, 2014
A Grand Adventure for Our Friends: Anthology as Love Letter to Eric Arvin & TJ Klune
What started as connection between two men turned quickly into a love story playing out in front of their peers and fans, before nearly becoming a tragedy last December when Eric was rushed to the hospital, fiancé TJ at his side.
And while TJ and their friends and family waited for diagnoses, for surgeons, for recovery, the gay romance writing community rallied to provide whatever support the could and to stand vigil for the couple. 
In January word spread among the editors and authors of Dreamspinner Press of an idea to contribute stories to an anthology, all proceeds from the sale of this book would go to Eric & TJ to help defray some of the costs incurred in the fight to save Eric’s life, and now, thankfully to care for it.
Grand Adventures is this collection and I’m honored to stand with twenty-eight other authors, editors, the publisher, and Paul Richmond the amazing cover artist – all donating time and talent to make this an exceptional love letter to our friends.
If you enjoy great stories of love, Eric & TJ’s story is one of the best, and you can support them here.
Grand Adventures is available for pre-order at Dreamspinner Press, and will be released March 30th. This collection includes my story: Last First Kiss -LE
Grand Adventures a Dreamspinner Press anthology
Description:
On September 1, 2011, TJ Klune wrote, “…it’s not about the ending, it’s about the journey…” in a review of Eric Arvin’s Woke Up in a Strange Place.
With those words, two men began a journey of love and invited us to ride along. TJ and Eric have shared so much with us: their wonderful books, their smiles, their humor, their lives, and their inspiring devotion to each other. In December of 2013, their journey took a detour when Eric was taken to the emergency room. He survived the surgery to remove a cavernous hemangioma from his brain stem, but the challenges TJ and Eric face are far from over.
The authors in this anthology donated their talent as a way to support Eric’s continued recovery, to help bring strength to TJ, and to show both of them just how much love surrounds them. Grand Adventures is a diverse range of stories about the journey of love. We’re going on some grand adventures for a great cause. Thank you for joining us.
One hundred percent of the income from this volume goes directly to TJ and Eric.
Foreword by S.A. McAuley
An Unexpected Thing by John Amory
The Twinkie Ignition by J.E. Birk
When Friendship Becomes More by Sophie Bonaste
Isle of Waiting by Sue Brown
The Jogger by KC Burn
Holding Court by Cardeno C.
For Dear Life by Mary Calmes
Under the Full Moon by Ellis Carrington
Stripped by Shae Connor (2nd Edition)
That Place Across the Hall by C.C. Dado
Mistaken MD by Phoenix Emrys
Cops and Comix by Rhys Ford
Last First Kiss by LE Franks
Tomorrow by John Goode
From Fantasy to Friends by CR Guiliano
Witness Protected by Dawn Kimberly Johnson
Water Under the Bridge by Mia Kerick
A Gentle Shove of Human Kindness by Amy Lane
Air (Roads #1.75 million) by Garrett Leigh
An Atheist and a Yoga Instructor Walk into a Bar by Rowan McAllister
Stalking 101 by Moria McCain
Simple Desires by Tempeste O’Riley
Object of Care by Zahra Owens
Kid Confusion by Madison Parker
Fall Train by Jaime Samms
The Exhibition by Andrea Speed
What You Will by Tinnean
Prologue by Brandon Witt
ISBN-13
978-1-62798-996-1
Pages
320
Cover Artist
Paul Richmond
February 23, 2014
The year ahead…
For writers in our genre – Gay Romance fiction – the big “get” was this weekend, GRL2014 (Gay Romance Literary Retreat) held it’s author registration for a very slender number of author and supporting author spots. Not unlike animals in the wild – under the right conditions authors eat their own. The banqueting has already begun, which is unfortunate.
Apart from making plans to attend the convention outside of Chicago in October, I realized today that I barely had a grip on planning for the year.
Planning on attending conferences, workshops, retreats… planing blog tours, marketing events, social media… Planning on what I’ll be writing, when they’ll need to be submitted to publishers, how many words they’ll have to be… Planning on writing at least one full length novel a year – two if you count the series I write with a co-author so I have something for fans to sign at all the conventions I’ve just planned on attending…
It can be overwhelming without adding in real life.
So here are my plans.
I plan to be nice and to continue to be grateful. To help where I can and to ask for help when I can’t. To share honestly and respectfully, and to try my damnedest to become better at my craft as a writer and as a human being. Now more than ever, our society is rocking back and forth on the razor’s edge of ideology. Arizona and Illinois are the latest examples of two ways forward. Writers, readers, thinkers, commenters… well, we all have a role in this – we all have to decide which side we’re going to stand up for and whether we are vocal or silent in the face of bigotry and injustice.
It’s not a gay thing, or a race thing. Not a gender thing, or and age thing. It’s a human thing. It’s a ‘We the People’ thing.
As for the stuff that doesn’t matter – I’ll be attending the following where you can meet me face-to-face, buy my books, take one of my pens, or commiserate with me on the tumbleweeds rolling past my table.
April 17th – 20th RainbowCon, Tampa FL
April 25th – 27th DreamSpinner Writer’s Weekend, Portland OR
Sept 20th Gay Romance Northwest Meetup, Seattle WA
Oct 15th – 19th Gay Romance Literary Retreat, Bloomington IL
Nov 7th-9th Bent-Con, Burbank, CA
Wishing you all happy planning.
Follow me on Facebook or Twitter or Tumblr or find my books on my website: LEFranks.com
February 20, 2014
The Game Changed in Venezuela Last Night – and the International Media Is Asleep At the Switch
Originally posted on Caracas Chronicles:
San Cristobal on Tuesday night
Dear International Editor:
Listen and understand. The game changed in Venezuela last night. What had been a slow-motion unravelling that had stretched out over many years went kinetic all of a sudden.
February 15, 2014
What The Hell Just Happened In Kansas?
The Fringe Right has raised its empty head once more…It’s as if there is a race in part of the country, most often centered in Kansas and Oklahoma, to see if they can out crazy each other. Their capacity to make all previous schemes look almost sane in comparison to their latest offering, is staggering. It’s as if they all grew up watching Gilligan’s Island, and they never understood that it was farce. They are still sitting in their basements with their tin hats trying to wrap pieces of bamboo together with vines as a solution to a failed technology that refuses to stay mired in the 1950′s. Their only hope is to run in circles being blow hards looking for a little guy to bully to make themselves feel adequate in the face of their own failure and the failure of the world to stay lock step with their narrow tiny minds and dreams of the past. LE Franks
Originally posted on The Dish:
The bill that just overwhelmingly passed the Kansas House of Representatives is quite something. You can read it in its entirety here. It is premised on the notion that the most pressing injustice in Kansas right now is the persecution some religious people are allegedly experiencing at the hands of homosexuals. As Rush Limbaugh recently noted, “They’re under assault. You say, ‘Heterosexuality may be 95, 98 percent of the population.’ They’re under assault by the 2 to 5 percent that are homosexual.” As its sponsor, Charles Macheers, explained:
Discrimination is horrible. It’s hurtful … It has no place in civilized society, and that’s precisely why we’re moving this bill. There have been times throughout history where people have been persecuted for their religious beliefs because they were unpopular. This bill provides a shield of protection for that.
February 10, 2014
In Nick’s perfe…
Last Day to Enter Contest to win your own copy of 6 Days to Valentine. See today’s blog stop:
In Nick’s perfect world, Valentine’s Day would be struck from the calendar.
Nick’s dreams of a Happily Ever After were shredded long ago and the last thing he and his customers need is a bunch of happy loving couples rubbing it in their faces.
Bouncer Fat Boy Newman is willing to bet he knows Nick’s heart better he does. He has just six days to change Nick’s mind about romance and the holiday and the perfect man to do it.
Too bad it’s not him.
Too bad Nick’s not going down without a fight.
To bad he’s willing to cheat.
February 1, 2014
A word on the condom issue
Recently I received a very nice review for Scrum. The reader enjoyed the story, but snickered a little at the lack of condom=no anal sex business. While this is his right, it also makes me worry. He defined it as “something that appeals to women readers.”
I know, because I have gay friends, gay acquaintances, and read a lot, that condom use and safer sex practices are far from universal.
This is a powerful and universal reminder. I don't want to lose any more friends. Not for something as simple as gloving up. Play Safe. -LE
