Cameron D. James's Blog, page 40

Book Review: Star Trek: The Fall: The Crimson Shadow

Star Trek: The Fall: The Crimson Shadow

Una McCormack

Cardassia Prime is home to a prideful people who, for centuries, forged alliances with those they believed would strengthen them and their place in the Alpha Quadrant, and expanded their empire at great cost to other worlds. For generations, dissenting voices were silenced by either fear or an early grave. When their wartime ally, the Dominion, suddenly turned on them, seeking to transform Cardassia into a tomb for every last member of their race, their old adversary—the United Federation of Planets— put an end to the carnage, and even now works to help rebuild Cardassia Prime.

To celebrate this alliance, the Castellan of the Cardassian Union is to welcome the Federation president to Cardassia Prime. As a symbol of this deepening friendship, the U.S.S. Enterprise-E is tasked to carry the Cardassian ambassador to the Federation back home. For his part, Ambassador Elim Garak is working with Captain Jean-Luc Picard to oversee the diplomatic reception that will commemorate the last of Starfleet’s personnel finally leaving the homeworld. However, there are malevolent forces at work, who even now strive to “restore Cardassia to its proper place and glory,” and are willing to do anything to achieve their goal….

This is the second in the five-book mini-series event, The Fall, and it is fantastic!  This entire series so far (at the time of writing this, I’m reading the fourth book), has been some of the best Trek fiction I’ve read in YEARS!

Una McCormack is a master of books set on Cardassia.  Despite Deep Space Nine being my favourite Star Trek series, I was never much of a lover of Cardassians or their world, but McCormack has consistently done an amazing job of making the planet very real and very appealing.  She sucks you in and doesn’t let go.

This novel sizzles and crackles with tension — something that the entire series has done to date.  With Garak becoming a politician after the end of the DS9 TV series, I was never quite sure how he fit into it all, and McCormack makes it very clear and very believable.

The Fall series has largely been about political upheaval — the first three books anyway — and that can often be very hard to write.  Political upheaval, especially in science-fiction, is often planet-wide or even wider than that, and McCormack has shown us a solid view of Cardassia and its struggles.

I realize this review has largely focussed on how effectively McCormack has written and not necessarily on the plot itself.  The plot is top-notch, but I don’t want to give too much away as it seems all five The Fall books essentially run concurrently or at least in very close sequence, so to say something might be a bit too much detail.  Suffice it to say that it was a thrilling read.

I’ve felt for the last long while that this Typhon Pact story line has been all over the place, but this very unified and very strong set of books has helped bolster the entire Typhon Pact thread and bring together a lot of the very random happenings over the past couple years.  So, not only is this book amazing and The Fall series is amazing, but The Fall is retroactively making the entire Typhon Pact line that much better.

For any serious Star Trek fans, The Fall series is an absolute must-read, as it has some of the strongest Star Trek writers penning some of the most intricate and captivating books.  Una McCormack’s The Crimson Shadow is a fine entry into the series.

Book Review: Trust Me

Trust Me

LA Witt

On the scene of a multiple murder that’s grisly even for a veteran homicide detective, Brian Clifton is stunned when one of the victims bears an uncanny resemblance to his boyfriend, James. As the similarities keep piling up, so do the bodies…and the evidence pointing to James as the killer.

Since long before the shooting, James has been dishonest. He’s been evasive. Oh, and there’s that minor little detail he withheld from Brian about being a gambling-addicted drug dealer. He may not be the best boyfriend in the world, but he begs Brian to believe he’s no murderer. In fact, whoever did pull the trigger undoubtedly wants to finish what they started, and Brian is the only one James trusts to keep him safe.

But how much is Brian willing to risk to protect a man he may not even know?

I found Trust Me to be an interesting read.  I didn’t know until I came here on Goodreads and added it to my list that it was technically the sequel to Cover Me, which I’ve not read.  Being a sequel, though, it still reads very well as a stand-alone.  I didn’t know the characters going in to this, but Witt wrote them with enough depth and detail that a newbie to the story like me could easily pick up enough to keep going.

In this plot, all of the evidence points to James, but Brian holds off on believing the evidence as long as possible… unsure if it’s because he simply is too in love with James to believe what he’s seeing, or if it’s because there’s some nagging sense in the back of his mind that something isn’t adding up.  The plot plays out quite well and makes for an entertaining read.

The sex scenes were hot, but they were very few and far between.  And, really, I can see why.  Given all that’s going on, sometimes a good hot fuck is needed to get through life, but to fill the book with more sex might give the reader the impression that the characters aren’t reacting properly.  So, given the few sex scenes, this erotic romance reads a little more like a mystery with erotic elements — which is completely fine, but wasn’t quite what I was expecting.

My only real quibble with this book is the rather dues ex machina solution to the crisis.  It sort of came out of nowhere — Brian is about to be killed and all is about to be lost, and then the whole situation flips around the day is saved.  I don’t want to give away too many details…

Potential dues ex machina aside, I thought the relationship between Brian and James, and how it evolves after the culmination of the plot, was very well and very effectively done.

Sexy Saturday: Jade Buchanan

Welcome to another Sexy Saturday!  Given my hectic schedule lately, this blog has been nothing but sexiness for the past few weeks — but the regular content of reviews and writing thoughts will return soon.  But for today, my Sexy Saturday guest is Jade Buchanan!

Author Bio:

Jade’s writing is as eclectic as her reading tastes, with over thirty erotic romance tales currently published. She’s been known to accept writing challenges from friends and family just to see their reactions and Jade is also a firm believer that love and romance are universal concepts, no matter a person’s gender identity or sexual orientation.

Originally from Northern Ontario, she’s lived in British Columbia and the Sultanate of Oman in the Middle East. Jade currently lives in Calgary, Alberta  where she’s hard at work on her next story.

Her latest release was Broken Wings, a side story in the Broken Series at MLR Press.

Jade loves to hear from readers! You can visit her on the web at http://www.jadebuchananbooks.com

Quickie Questions:

1) What was your first experience with erotica / erotic romance?

I’d long been a fan of romance in general and as many readers are I was pretty voracious in finding new books. I remember being on a Laurell K Hamilton message board where people were listing new books and found a recommendation for the Horde Wars series by Sherri L. King at Ellora’s Cave. As soon as I click onto the EC website I knew I’d found books and authors that I would fall in love with. That was probably over a decade ago!

2) Describe your journey from reading to writing to publication.

Once I’d discovered the world of erotic romance I pretty much read everything I could get my hands on. I found out about m/m romance through writers like Ally Blue, JL Langley and Jet Mykles and started following some of them on their yahoo groups. There was a call through one of the groups for reviewers for Joyfully Reviewed and I was intrigued by the idea of getting free books in return for giving reviews. I wrote up a quick review for Willow Bend by Ally Blue and ended up with the job. After a few months my editor at Joyfully told me that she loved the way I worded my reviews and wondered if I’d ever consider writing. I replied that I wasn’t that talented and she pretty much dared me to try to write something. Her words were that if it sucked I didn’t have to show anyone. So, I wrote a little story called Laithe’s Pride about anthropomorphic aliens and showed it to Joy Harris, the owner of Joyfully Reviewed, who immediately told me to send it off to a publisher. I knew enough about the different publishers out there through my reviews that I had an idea of where a short novella like mine would fit. I submitted it to Changeling Press and got a contract in return. Since then I’ve published over 40 stories in seven years.

3) What scene or book was the biggest challenge to write?

I think every writer encounters writing blocks at one time or another, but the worst for me was probably when I was writing the fourth book in the Felidae series, Lev’s Discovery. Not because of anything that was going on with the book itself but because my uncle passed away halfway through the writing of that book and I had such a hard time finding the will to finish it. I’m still not happy with the way it turned out, but it was a good lesson for me to realize that I needed to change my writing style so that I plotted more and pantsed less. I now write in more of a quilting style, where I plot out the main framework and write scenes out of order that get stitched together to form the final book. It’s gotten me through some crisis moments for sure.

4) Do you have any tips or advice for aspiring writers of erotica / erotic romance?

In erotic romance the sex scenes are there to advance the plot. In a good erotic romance they can’t be removed from the story without changing the story itself in some way, so it’s critical that authors know how to write sex scenes that are believable and layered. I joke that I get to watch a lot of porn for research but when I first started writing I used a set of GI Joes and other dolls to work out sex scenes before I wrote them. I wanted to make sure that I had the right positions, hand placements, etc. so that the sex made sense. It can be incredibly awkward to read a sex scene and realize the author messed up the mechanics.

Second, I’ll say what everyone else says… write. Easier said than done some days with the demands that get placed on all of us, but whether you write once a day or once a month, you need to keep writing.

And finally, the biggest thing I’ve learned is to write without placing limits or filters on yourself. Don’t let fear, uncertainty or worry about what others will think stop you from writing the book you want.

5) Tell us a bit about your latest release.

My latest release was Broken Wings, and it’s part of the Mixed Tape series at MLR Press where each of the titles come from classic 80’s hits. Broken Wings is also part of my Broken series, contemporary gay romances set between Calgary and Ontario. Broken Wings features old lovers who get a second chance at love. Nathan first showed up in Broken Silence and I fell in love with him as a character. He’s a lover of woman’s clothing and adventure holidays and he’s quite often the calming influence among his friends. His ex, Tim, left for Hollywood to work in the film industry and they broke up when it looked like he wouldn’t be coming back. In Broken Wings Tim returns to Toronto and Nathan has to decide if he’s willing to risk his heart a second time.

Sounds awesome, Jade!

If you’d like to find out more about Jade and her books, check out her website: http://www.jadebuchananbooks.com

(And while you go and check out her stuff, I’m going back to working on my thesis… see y’all next week!  And those book reviews will return soon, I promise!)

 

Sexy Saturday: Tara Lain

Welcome to my weekly blog feature, Sexy Saturday!  This week we have Tara Lain as our sexy guest!

Let’s jump right in!

Author Bio:

Tara Lain writes the Beautiful Boys of Romance in LGBT erotic romance novels that star her unique, charismatic heroes. Her first novel was published in January of 2011 and she’s now somewhere around book 23. Her best-selling novels have garnered awards for Best Series, Best Contemporary Romance, Best Ménage, Best LGBT Romance, Best Gay Characters, and Tara has been named Best Writer of the Year in the LRC Awards. In her other job, Tara owns an advertising and public relations firm. She often does workshops on both author promotion and writing craft.  She lives with her soul-mate husband and her soul-mate dog in Laguna Beach, California, a pretty seaside town where she sets a lot of her books.  Passionate about diversity, justice, and new experiences, Tara says on her tombstone it will say “Yes”!

 

Quickie Questions:

1) What was your first experience with erotica / erotic romance?

I’ve always loved reading romance and generally preferred it to be on the steamy side. I was an early fan of Sandra Brown’s category romances and was a good personal friend as well as fan of Suzanne Forster. While these ladies wrote “traditional” romance, they were always on the hawt side! I don’t remember exactly how I first read Jet Mykles Dark Elves series, but I really enjoyed those erotic fantasies. When I ran out of the elves books she had written at the time, I ordered another book from Amazon called Heavensent. I didn’t pay a lot of attention to the description of the book. Imagine my surprise when it arrived and was a MM romance! I didn’t really know such things existed prior to that, but I became an instant devotee and have been reading MM erotic romance ever since.

2) Describe your journey from reading to writing to publication.

I’ve always been a writer by profession. I work in marketing and have made my living writing magazine articles for PR, brochures, blogs, ads, videos, and other marketing materials. People always told me I should write a book, but it sounded like so much work! I couldn’t imagine writing all day, and then writing at night and on the weekend. Then I found erotic romance and discovered something so fun that it made it enjoyable to write all the time. I decided on a whim to write an older woman/ younger man romance. Since I have contact with a lot of interesting professions in my day job, I made my heroine and hero genetic researchers. But then I read my first MM romance. It only took one to make me a passionate fan. I love the lack of gender roles, the battle for dominance, the fluidity, and the “true love” of this trope. So I added another man to my book! In one swoop I was not only writing MM, I was writing ménage. I knew nothing about publishing books, but I chose the publisher of all my favorite authors at the time — Loose Id — and submitted to them. They came back and suggested changes and I went to school online to brush up my grasp of deep point of view and other fiction writing skills. I polished the book (called Genetic Attraction), they accepted it, and that is almost 3 years and 20 published books ago. It’s been a happy journey.

3) What scene or book was the biggest challenge to write?

My first romantic suspense, Golden Dancer, was a big challenge. It’s a MMM ménage which is complex by itself. Then I layered in the mystery of a stolen art object which made the plot more intricate. For a character driven writer, romantic suspense is new and different, but I must confess the book is one of my personal faves from my backlist. Also a challenge was Mistletowed, a book I just re-released last week on Amazon. Mistletowed is a really quirky idea and involves 7 main characters in a novella-length book. I conceived of a group of friends who are all in relationships that aren’t quite satisfying, but one holiday they may or may not come under the influence of some presumably magical mistletoe that allows people to find their soul mates. Unlike most books that focus on a single type of romantic pairing, this book is MM, MF, and MMF ménage! It took me a while to get my rhythm when writing this book, but once I realized whose story it was, everything else fell into place.

4) Do you have any tips or advice for aspiring writers of erotica / erotic romance?

You need to love writing erotic romance to do it well. I’ve met people who give it a try because they think it’s popular (which it is), but you have to enjoy writing love scenes all the way to their conclusion to be convincing. I also think you need to write those love scenes integrally rather than coming back later to add them as I’ve heard some people describe. Otherwise, the sex can get mechanical and readers will skip it which is the death knell in erotic romance. Sex scenes are like other scenes in that they need to advance plot and elucidate character. If they don’t do that, there’s no reason for them to be there. The reader needs to know they will miss a lot if they don’t read the sex scenes. We should know much more at the end of a sex scene than where the parts fit together!  LOL

5) Tell us a bit about your latest release.

There are all kinds of releases to tell you about. Most recently, I re-released my holiday romp called Mistletowed. This is the quirky romance I described above. Here’s the blurb:

Five friends, one piece of mistletoe. Christian Elliott has the perfect life — right girlfriend, right job, right house and car. How come he’s only really happy when he’s with his best friend, Jason? Melanie Cantrell has everything she wants. Why won’t she stop mooning over her yoga teacher? Buttercup Allender adores her stable life with Winston. But she can’t give up her secret desire for BDSM. 

Stir them all together at a holiday party with a beautiful rock god and a submissive stockbroker and what do you get? It could be love or they could be Mistletowed. 

This book is available for 99 cents at Amazon.

Speaking of Amazon, I also have a recent MM release which is one of the most popular books I’ve ever written. It was number one in gay romance for days and days and is still in the top 40 almost 2 months later. It’s called Love You So Hard, and it’s also available for 99 cents at Amazon.

And my next release comes out on January 8th from Dreamspinner Press. It’s called The Pack or the Panther. My first werewolf book! But, since I love cats, I had to get a feline in there too. There will be a FB Party and a Blog Tour with lots of prizes. We’re doing a Cover Reveal on December 19th.

  

Thanks for being my guest today, Tara!  Congratulations on all your success and recent releases — and I’ll be sure to keep an eye out for your cover reveal of The Pack or the Panther!

If you’d like to connect with Tara, check out the following links:

Website:              http://www.taralain.com
Blog:               http://www.taralain.com/blog
Goodreads:        http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4541791.Tara_Lain
Pinterest:         http://pinterest.com/taralain/
Twitter:               http://twitter.com/taralain
FB Page:         https://www.facebook.com/taralain

And if you’d like to find some of her books online, check out these links:

Amazon:          http://www.amazon.com/Tara-Lain/e/B004U1W5QC/
B&N               http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/Tara-Lain?keyword=Tara+Lain&store=book
ARe     http://www.allromanceebooks.com/storeSearch.html?searchBy=author&qString=Tara+Lain

Thanks again!

(And for all the people who check out my blog for my book reviews — sorry about the delay, but there are some more coming!  I’m trying to surpass my record last year of having read 66 books in a year — so I’m busy reading as I’m currently at 63!  And it’s just my luck that I chose a couple long books to read.  The book reviews will make a return very soon!)

Sexy Saturday: Jordan L. Hawk

Welcome to another edition of Sexy Saturday!

Today’s guest is Jordan L. Hawk!  Let’s jump right into this!

Author Bio:

Jordan L. Hawk grew up in the wilds of North Carolina, where she was raised on stories of haints and mountain magic by her bootlegging granny. After using a silver knife in the light of a full moon to summon her true love, she turned her talents to spinning tales. She weaves together couples who need to fall in love, then throws in some evil sorcerers and undead just to make sure they want it bad enough. In Jordan’s world, love might conquer all, but it just as easily could end up in the grave.

Jordan is the author of the best-selling Whyborne & Griffin series (Widdershins, Threshold, and Stormhaven,) as well as the SPECTR novellas and the erotic short story “Heart of the Dragon.”

Quickie Questions:

1) What was your first experience with erotica / erotic romance?

This is going way back for me, but probably Anne Rice’s Beauty series when I was in high school and college.

2) Describe your journey from reading to writing to publication.

I’ve read books with explicit sex in them for years, but I didn’t really try my hand at writing a sex scene until I decided to write a fanfic with erotic scenes. It was fun, and people found them hot, so I thought I’d rather like to start adding sex into my original fiction as well.

3) What scene or book was the biggest challenge to write?

I’d say a sex scene in an upcoming release Destroyer of Worlds, book 5 in the SPECTR series. It took me a couple of days to write because it was a very important turning point in the relationship of the characters involved. But going by the remarks from my beta reader and editor, it’s also the hottest thing I’ve ever written.

4) Do you have any tips or advice for aspiring writers of erotica / erotic romance?

Have fun! I often see writers complain on line that they “have to” write a sex scene. Let yourself go and enjoy what you’re doing. If you’ve been at writing a while and are getting bored with writing sex, switch it up. Just as with a real sex, introducing a new twist or position to your writing repertoire will help keep things fresh.

5) Tell us a bit about your latest release.

My latest release is Stormhaven, Book 3 in the Whyborne & Griffin series, about an introverted scholar and an ex-Pinkerton detective who go around fighting monsters and saving the world. The viewpoint character, Whyborne, can speak over a dozen languages but has trouble expressing his innermost feelings to his lover through words. So he does a lot of his communication with sex, because it’s just easier for him to let go and express himself that way. Although I always spend a lot of time thinking about sex scenes before I write them, I do even more planning with this series because each one is very much a conversation between the two.

Thank you so much for having me on your blog!

And thank you for joining us, Jordan!

If you’d like to find out more about Jordan L. Hawk, be sure to visit her website at www.jordanlhawk.com!

 

Book Review: Star Trek: The Fall: Revelation and Dust

Star Trek: The Fall: Revelation and Dust

David R. George III

WELCOME TO THE NEW DEEP SPACE 9 

After the destruction of the original space station by a rogue faction of the Typhon Pact, Miles O’Brien and Nog have led the Starfleet Corps of Engineers in designing and constructing a larger, more advanced starbase in the Bajoran system. Now, as familiar faces such as Benjamin Sisko, Kasidy Yates, Ezri Dax, Odo, and Quark arrive at the new station, Captain Ro Laren will host various heads of state at an impressive dedication ceremony. The dignitaries include not only the leaders of allies—such as Klingon Chancellor Martok, Ferengi Grand Nagus Rom, the Cardassian castellan, and the Bajoran first minister—but also those of rival powers, such as the Romulan praetor and the Gorn imperator. But as Ro’s crew prepares to open DS9 to the entire Bajor Sector and beyond, disaster looms. A faction has already set in action a shocking plan that, if successful, will shake the Alpha and Beta Quadrants to the core.

And what of Kira Nerys, lost aboard a runabout when the Bajoran wormhole collapsed? In the two years that have passed during construction of the new Deep Space 9, there have been no indica­tions that the Celestial Temple, the Prophets, or Kira have sur­vived. But since Ben Sisko once learned that the wormhole aliens exist nonlinearly in time, what does that mean with respect to their fate, or that of the wormhole . . . or of Kira herself?

David R George III is, I feel, one of the best Star Trek writers being published today, and that comes from his deep knowledge of the very heart and core of what made Deep Space Nine the truly unique series that it was.  Too many writers of Deep Space Nine books have treated the series like any other in the Star Trek universe.  While each series has it’s own unique flavour, the rest have all been pretty similar as they have all taken place on a starship with a rather consistent crew compliment across the various series.  DS9 has always been different, and that difference has to do with far more than the characters or setting… it has to do with the soul of the series… something very few Star Trek authors have truly understood.  David R George III is one of those few authors.

Revelation and Dust is the first in a five-part series that is supposed to be, I think, monumental in scope.  To be honest, the main storyline, which I won’t reveal here, is not all too surprising.  It’s the opening of the new Deep Space Nine (since the original was destroyed in the last books by George) and it’s a high powered event with heads of state from all over the place there to be part of the dedication.  However, while there was some predictability, George pulls the reader in and grips them tightly.  I was riveted to the page even though I sort of foresaw this event coming, and it was carried off with such a skill that I think few authors could have matched.

What really got me was the sub-story with Kira.  In the last books by George, when DS9 was destroyed, Kira went missing in the wormhole and the wormhole promptly collapsed.  We find out in this book that she is not dead, but with the Prophets.  (And again, George is the ONLY Star Trek writer I’ve seen who truly gets the stuff with the Prophets.)  Kira is doing what she’s doing with the Prophets, and the reader isn’t quite sure of what’s going on — after all, the Prophets are never clear — but then in the last few pages that storyline takes a stunning twist…  Again, I don’t want to give anything away (cuz I hate spoilers), but George did a masterful job of pulling off that storyline, to make it seem so obvious in hindsight, but so shocking when it happens.

Not only was Revelation and Dust a stellar novel on its own, but it’s also a kickass start to The Fall five-book-series.  I’m about a third through the second book now, The Crimson Shadow by Una McCormack, and while it’s a very different style of story, it’s also superb.  The Fall is looking to be a bang-up series (though I am a little concerned about one of the later authors in the series as I’ve enjoyed few of his books… we’ll see how it goes…)

Sexy Saturday: Leigh Wilder

Welcome to the fourth instalment of Sexy Saturday, where we get a chance to meet an author of M/M erotic romance or erotica.

Today’s guest is Leigh Wilder!

Author Bio:

Leigh Wilder is a writer of multiple pairings and genres, but specializes in m/m and fantasy or paranormal settings.  She’s been published with Cleis Press and Storm Moon Press.  The first book of her popular series, “Deadly Liaisons” is free to download from Amazon or Smashwords. Visit http://leighwilder.blogspot.com for free downloads and more.  Leigh Wilder lives in Columbus, Oh with her fiancé and three cats.

Quickie Questions:

1)   What was your first experience with erotica / erotic romance?

Fanfiction when I was a teenager.  I was a big Buffy the Vampire Slayer fangirl back in the day (I really think it shows in my writing), and I discovered Willow/Spike BDSM.  From there I went on to Harry Potter (Harry/Draco was my favorite) and then I started writing originals.

2)   Describe your journey from reading to writing to publication.

I started writing when I was eleven when I ran out of interesting books to read at our small library. I decided I might as well start writing my own. In high school I started writing fanfic.  I sold my first short story at twenty-one, but when I got the anthology it was in I realized every story in the book was terrible, including my own. So I stopped writing for publication until 2011.  I feel like I really needed those years to grow as a writer and now I’m very proud of the work I put out.

3) What scene or book was the biggest challenge to write?

I wrote the first story of my vampire series, “Drain Me Dry” as a stand-alone short story, but the readers kept asking me where the rest of it was.  The second story is only 12,000 words long, but writing it felt like pulling teeth as I tried to shape a plot and find the characters.  I knew how their story started, and how it ended, but I didn’t know what happened in-between.  Since then I’ve really worked out how they all work and I’m really happy with books 3 and 4, which are both novella length.

3)   Do you have any tips or advice for aspiring writers of erotica / erotic romance?

Practice. Accept that what you begin with will not be your best work, and have the patience to really learn how to write. It comes with time.

5) Tell us a bit about your latest release.

My latest novella release is Bloodlines, #4 in my “Deadly Liaisons” series.  It really digs in deep when it comes to the emotions of my characters. There’s a lot of drama involved compared to the first few books, which makes it kind of fun.  The series is about the relationship between a vampire master, Damian, and his barely-legal human pet, Jamie-boy.  It’s got a lot of BDSM, but more plot than sex. I’ve also recently released a m/f steampunk short, “Fancy and the Mechanical Man.”

Whoo!  Sounds like some hot stories!

Thanks for being our guest here today, Leigh!

Sexy Saturday: Jaye McKenna

Welcome to the third instalment of Sexy Saturday!  Each Saturday we take a look at a writer of sexy stories, whether they be erotica, erotic romance, or other genre fiction with lots of dirty bits.

This week, I’m pleased to welcome Jaye McKenna!

Author Bio:

Jaye McKenna is the author of Human Frailties, Human Strengths, an M/M fantasy romance. She writes M/M science fiction and fantasy. In her spare time, she wrangles two kids and a pack of huskies.

Quickie Questions:

1) What was your first experience with erotica / erotic romance?

I wrote M/M (and hid the resulting stories!) long before I realized there was a market for it. The first M/M novel I read was Damon Suede’s “Hot Head”, and it was like a light-bulb going on—I’d found a whole new genre to devour, and a place where my own stuff might fit in.

2) Describe your journey from reading to writing to publication.

I started writing poetry and stories in elementary school, and by high school I was scribbling novels in spiral notebooks instead of listening in class. I tried submitting things for publication back in the dark ages, but the whole process seemed awfully draconian to me, and I wasn’t really sold on giving up artistic control of my work in return for being published. I quickly lost interest in publishing, but never stopped writing. Now, with the explosion of ebooks and self-publishing, I can get my stories out there the way I envision them.

3) What scene or book was the biggest challenge to write?

My biggest challenge so far is the “Guardians of the Pattern” series I’m working on, the first book of which will be released in early 2014. It’s (at least) five books long and straddles the line between science fiction and fantasy. The storyline focuses on two very different cultures, one highly technical and one fairly primitive, which made the world-building doubly challenging.

4) Do you have any tips or advice for aspiring writers of erotica / erotic romance?

Same thing I’d tell anyone who wants to write—read, read, read, and write, write, write. Read everything you can get your hands on, especially in your chosen genre. Become a story-sponge, and eventually you’ll develop an intuitive sense of what works and what doesn’t. And write what you love, because that’s where you’re going to shine.

5) Tell us a bit about your latest release.

Human Frailties, Human Strengths is about a misfit human named Tor who, through a strange encounter with an old woman and a magical book, ends up in an alternate world. When he’s dumped at the feet of an arrogant god-in-exile named Ash, it’s irritation-at-first-sight. Magically bonded to Ash by a goddess who intends to teach Ash a lesson in humanity—and humility—Tor has no choice but to follow Ash as he seeks a way to break his exile. Along the way they find adventure, love, and the meaning of being human.

If you’d like to find out more about Jaye, then you can find her here:

Blog: The Swamp
Goodreads: Profile

And if you’d like to purchase a copy of Human Frailties, Human Strengths, you can find it at these online booksellers: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Apple, Kobo, and Smashwords

As well, Jaye just released “Facing the Mirror” as a FREE novella over on Smashwords — it kicks off the Guardians of the Pattern series.  You can find “Facing the Mirror” over on Smashwords.

Thanks for stopping by, Jaye!

Tablet or eReader?

I’ve recently seen some comments around the interwebs that discussing whether eReaders were a foolish purchase when you could have a tablet.  A tablet lets you read a book and surf the internet and your social networks.  Why buy an eReader when you can spend just a couple hundred more and get the latest iPad?

I’m far from an authority figure on this, but I personally like a dedicated eReader.  I have a Kobo.  I don’t yet have an iPad, but I might get one in the spring… but even then, I suspect I’ll still use my eReader for my ebooks.

Why?  I sometimes read ebooks on my iPhone, so it’s equivalent enough to an iPad.  What happens when I read?  I get a Facebook notification so I go and check it out, then I get an email so I read it and respond, and if the chapter is boring I might dip into a quick game.  I find the strength of a dedicated eReader is that it forces me to focus on just the reading.

I often read for an hour before bed.  That’s a time where I want to unwind and allow my brain to settle down and prepare for sleep.  If I read on my iPhone, with its numerous distractions, then I get sucked into multiple things and my brain goes haywire keeping up with it all… and I don’t unwind.  I also don’t focus on the story I’m reading.  But when I read from my Kobo, I just read and do nothing else.  I give the book the attention it deserves and I fully engage in one of my favourite hobbies.

But maybe that’s just how I operate?  I’m sure some people can read on a tablet or phone and not get distracted by all the bells and whistles.

What do you prefer?  Tablet or eReader?

Sexy Saturday: M.A. Church

Welcome to another week of Sexy Saturday, in which we meet and greet a writer of m/m erotic romance and m/m erotica.

This week, it’s my pleasure to host M.A. Church!

Author Bio:

M.A. Church lives in the southern United States and spent many years in the elementary education sector. She is married to her high school sweetheart and they have two children. Her hobbies are gardening, walking, attending flea markets, watching professional football, racing, and spending time with her family on the lake.

Recent titles: Shadows in the Night released by Dreamspinner Press. Shadows in a finalist in the Rainbow Awards.

The Harvest: Taken released by Storm Moon Press.

Quickie Questions:

1) What was your first experience with erotica / erotic romance?

LOL. Believe it or not, I ran across a free website while surfing the web a few years ago. I read some stories, but I also noticed the site had a gay male section. I clicked on it and, thank God, stumbled across a couple of stories that were very well-written. *grin* I was hooked. I ended up reading damn near every story in that category, lol.

2) Describe your journey from reading to writing to publication.

After reading stories on that free site, I decided to give writing a try. I wrote a couple of stories which were liked by the readers there. I wrote for a year and learned what I could… then entered a contest at that site. *grin* My story won first place, lol. And that’s what made me decide to try publishing.

3) What scene or book was the biggest challenge to write?

It’s actually a series that was difficult for me. The Bad Boys Club is a dark desires series. See, I normally write romance, but this series… neither main character have redeeming qualities. They both are… evil, lol. One character is a paranormal and truly devious. The human counterpoint is just as bad, lol. Truly unlikeable. The two ended up together, but it’s definitely not a ‘sweet’ romance.

4) Do you have any tips or advice for aspiring writers of erotica / erotic romance?

If you’re going to do it… then do it.

That’s what my Mom told me when I showed her my writing. And now it’s my advice to new authors. Research, find a good publisher that fits your writing, talk to other authors… then submit the damn thing. lol. Take a chance. If you don’t, you’ll never know for sure.

And be prepared for a rejection. It’s going to happen sooner or later. Just know it’s not the end of the world and do NOT take it personally.

5) Tell us a bit about your latest release.

Ahhh, lol. My latest is my baby. *grin* I wrote the series right after my Mom passed away. The Harvest is a two book series. Book 1 is The Harvest: Taken and was just released by Storm Moon. It’s an M/M romance but honestly, it’s heavy into scifi.

Thanks for joining me here on the blog, M.A. Church!

If you’d like to check out more from M.A. Church, you can find her blog here and her Twitter feed here.