Megan Linden's Blog, page 7

Open Endings – Cover Reveal

It’s here! The cover for my new novella Open Endings is here!

It was created by Lex Valentine from Winterheart Design. Thanks again, Lex!

Open Endings comes out on July 3rd from MLR Press. Closer to the release day I will publish an excerpt, so stay tuned.

Great News! Open Endings comes out in a month!

Open Endings, my new novella, comes out on July 3rd from MLR Press!

Here’s the synopsis:

A man walks into a recruitment office… and nothing goes according to plan.

Matt Holston, soon-to-be college graduate, tries to figure out what to do with the rest of his life. One of his ideas? US Marine Corps. But when he goes to the recruitment office to learn more about a possible military career, he meets a guy who is a complete opposite of what Matt imagined a recruitment officer should be.

Cole Perry had suffered PTSD after his second tour overseas and now he just wants to get to the end of his contract. Transferred from his old unit, he’s a glorified office clerk, as he calls himself, but what he’s definitely not is a guy who would help anybody make the same mistake he did.

So what makes Matt come back to see Cole again if not the spiel about serving his country?

Blog Hop Against Homophobia and Transphobia

Hi, everyone!

Happy International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia!

I’m glad to be a part of this Hop and I’m happy you decided to stop by my little corner of the world wide web.

I was going to write about a conversation that I had a few days ago about discrimination in Poland, but then I saw this video earlier today and decided that THIS, this is my post. So here you go:

(brought to you by Arcade Fire & Andrew Garfield)

GIVEAWAY!

In celebration of the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia and as a part of the Hop, I’m running a giveaway. You can win one of two copies of “Running Off the Edge”, my Winter Olympics m/m love story. To enter, you have to leave a comment on this post (please include your preferred format for e-books).

The giveaway ends May 25th. I will contact the lucky winners by e-mail.

Edit: the lucky winners are Rissa and Wendy H. Congratulations!

After the knee injury, Liam O’Connor, the former gold medalist, is no longer able to compete at the Olympics. He’s in Sochi as an assistant coach for another male figure skater and hopes to avoid Eric Lanney as much as possible.

Meanwhile Eric is back to compete for gold in pair skating, but is that the only thing that will be important to him? Maybe when the former lovers meet again in Russia, they will both learn that a gold medal isn’t the greatest prize you can win at the Winter Olympics.

For more messages from the participants of the Hop, check out the site: HopAgainstHomophobia. There are well over hundred giveaways involved, too!

To learn more about the day in general, check out the IDAHOT page here: official site.

April Autism Blog Hop: The Edges of Possibility

Today I’m participating in April Autism Blog Hop run by RJ Scott. She does a great job of really getting people together and putting a spotlight on autism, a condition that’s complex and varied, and sometimes difficult to put into words (this year nearly 50 people participating in this blog hop try, though).

—

First of all, one fact about autism:

Having autism is like having blue eyes or dark hair – it’s part of you.

It is a lifelong condition.

—

I want to talk with you about autism and sports. Partially because it relates to my book, but also because I was once a volunteer on a Special Olympics event and that was an incredible experience. Seeing kids compete, struggle, and be happy just to participate, was something that stayed with me for quite some time.

So, can people with autism play sports? What disciplines are best for them?

The answer, as with most – if not all – autism-related questions is: It depends.

Not every person with autism can compete, for various reasons. For example, team sports may be much more difficult than the disciplines depending only on individual work, like swimming, running, or horse riding, to name a few.

There are news-worthy success stories out there. Like Jessica-Jane Applegate, a young woman who, at the age of 16, won the gold medal at 2012 Summer Paralympics. Or Todd Hodgetts, who won a gold medal in the Men’s Shot Put F20 event at the same Games. Not everyone with autism can qualify for Paralympics, though. There are specific requirements that have to be met, including IQ of less than 75.

But Paralympics (or more frequent Special Olympics) aren’t – excuse a bad pun – the only game in town for people on autistic spectrum. There are accomplished marathon runners, like Jonathan Brunot, a New York City Marathon medal winner. There is a teen with black belt in tea kwon do. There is a high school basketball player who scored an astonishing 20 points, majority of those from a three point range, in four minutes of the game.

Not every story will get on the news. Not every person on autistic spectrum will be able to play. But the biggest giveaway for me is: you never know. Possibilities are always expanding, for each and every one of us.

I feel inspired! Do you? Comment and tell me what inspired you the most lately. You can win one of two copies of “Running Off the Edge”, my Winter Olympics love story.

The giveaway ends April 20th.

Edited: the winners of the giveaway are H.B. and Trix! Congratulations!

After the knee injury, Liam O’Connor, the former gold medalist, is no longer able to compete at the Olympics. He’s in Sochi as an assistant coach for another male figure skater and hopes to avoid Eric Lanney as much as possible.

Meanwhile Eric is back to compete for gold in pair skating, but is that the only thing that will be important to him? Maybe when the former lovers meet again in Russia, they will both learn that a gold medal isn’t the greatest prize you can win at the Winter Olympics.

MLR Books|Amazon|AllRomance

Running Off the Edge: One Month Later

Wow. I can’t believe it has been a month already!

A few days ago I thought I should write a post for the occasion, summing up all the things that happened. I won’t lie, it’s mostly for my own sake, so I wouldn’t forget the details later on, but maybe someone else would find it interesting. I know I love to read about other people’s writing process and behind-the-scenes stuff.

If I had to pick one word to describe everything, it would be bizarre. There’s still a little part of me that can’t actually believe I got published, and I had several “WTF/THAT IS CRAZY” moments.

Seeing my book on MLR site, for one. Then seeing it on Amazon. Finding my book on Goodreads was an experience, too (I still haven’t claimed it there, though. I should do that). Not to mention hitting the bestseller list on AllRomance site! Wohoo!

Oh, yeah, and I guess you know you “made it” when someone pirates your book? Check.

There was also a lot of firsts. First guest post and first interview, first five-star review, first one-star rating (ouch)…

What I loved about the whole process, too, was how amazingly supportive the m/m writers community has been to me. Fellow writers offered congratulations, support, and helped to spread the word about my book. I was, and still am, incredibly grateful for that.

Last but not least, my productivity went up another level, fueled by all the excitement. Which is great, because I hope to have many more releases in the future. Here’s to living the dream!