Elisa Rolle's Blog, page 320
January 23, 2016
Blog Tour: Br0th3rly by Alina Popescu
Br0th3rly (Famous on the Internet Book 1) by Alina PopescuPublisher: Wayward Ink Publishing (January 15, 2016)
Amazon Kindle: Br0th3rly (Famous on the Internet Book 1)
Start your journey through the new techie/geeky gay romance series by Alina Popescu—Famous on the Internet—with the first book, Br0th3rly.
Blurb: Fighting his relentless love for Trevor, the guy he was raised to consider his brother, has been Tristan’s mission in life.
To distance himself from Trevor, even after discovering they weren’t really related, he left for college at sixteen. Moving into the city, building a new life, and running an anonymous blog about what he considers sick, twisted feelings might make Tristan famous on the Internet, but it isn’t enough to get over his obsession. Every time he goes home, a quick glance at Trevor brings it all flooding back.
When commitment-phobe Trevor announces he’s got a serious boyfriend during one of Tristan’s rare visits home, the adoring kid brother will be forced to run once again. This time, however, Trevor doesn’t stand back and watch him leave.
Instead, he follows him, making it nigh on impossible for Tristan to keep his love a secret for much longer.
Don’t miss the ARe 25% off sale till January 23rd, WIP’s Unzipping 2016 Sale – 35% off all list titles till January 24th, or the huge Australia Day Sale–January 25 to January 27—50% off all titles on WIP’s website and 35% off on Are!
( Excerpt )
About the author: Writer, traveler, and coffee addict, Alina Popescu has been in love with books all her life. She started writing when she was ten and she has always been drawn to sci-fi, fantasy, and the supernatural realm. Born and raised in Romania, she finds her inspiration in books of all genres, in movies, and the occasional manga comic book. She is a proud geek who needs her fast Internet and gadgets more than she needs air.
Social Links
Site & Blog: http://alina-popescu.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authoralinap...
Twitter: http://twitter.com/alina_popescu
Instagram: http://instagram.com/alinapopescuwriter
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/alina-popescu
Google+: https://www.google.com/+AlinaPopescu
Amazon: http://amazon.com/author/alinapopescu
Giveaway:
1x$10 WIP Gift Card
2x1 Backlist Title from WIP – anthologies and individual releases included
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January 22, 2016
Queer Places: James Buchanan Birthplace
Address: James Buchanan Birthplace, Mercersburg, PA 17236, USA
James Buchanan was the only Pennsylvanian to be elected President of the United States.
Buchanan was born in a log cabin in the village of Cove Gap near Mercersburg and grew up in the town. His log cabin still stands today on the Mercersburg Academy Campus near the athletics building.
Mercersburg is a borough in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, 73 miles (117 km) southwest of Harrisburg. Originally called Black Town, it was incorporated in 1831. In 1900, 956 people lived here, and in 1910, 1,410 people lived here. The population was 1,540 at the 2000 census.
Harriet Lane (1830–1903), niece of James Buchanan, was born at Mercersburg in the Lane House. It was built in 1828, and is a 2 1/2-story, five bay, brick dwelling in the Federal-style. It was the birthplace of Harriet Lane (1830-1903), who served as hostess at the White House for her uncle James Buchanan from 1857 to 1861. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. It is located in the Mercersburg Historic District.
Academy Award–winning actors Jimmy Stewart and Benicio del Toro both attended Mercersburg Academy, as well as John Hamilton, who played Perry White on Adventures of Superman TV series, and Vanessa Branch, the actress best known for Orbit Gum commercials.
The Buchanan Hotel is a hotel located in downtown Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, on North Main Street. It was the boyhood home of the fifteenth President of the United States, James Buchanan, Jr. and was built by James Buchanan, Sr. in 1796. Buchanan built it as a two story brick residence and the third story was added in the late nineteenth century. It is part of the Mercersburg Historic District, which was listed by the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
William R. King was U.S. Senator from Alabama and Vice President of the U.S. under Franklin Pierce. Believed to be the lover of President James Buchanan, King was referred to as “Miss Nancy” by President Andrew Jackson. However, another contemporary, referred to King as “Aunt Fancy” and also called him Buchanan’s “better half”. King and Buchanan shared an house in Washington, D.C., for 15 years during their Congressional tenures.
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James Buchanan was the only Pennsylvanian to be elected President of the United States.
Buchanan was born in a log cabin in the village of Cove Gap near Mercersburg and grew up in the town. His log cabin still stands today on the Mercersburg Academy Campus near the athletics building.
Mercersburg is a borough in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, 73 miles (117 km) southwest of Harrisburg. Originally called Black Town, it was incorporated in 1831. In 1900, 956 people lived here, and in 1910, 1,410 people lived here. The population was 1,540 at the 2000 census.
Harriet Lane (1830–1903), niece of James Buchanan, was born at Mercersburg in the Lane House. It was built in 1828, and is a 2 1/2-story, five bay, brick dwelling in the Federal-style. It was the birthplace of Harriet Lane (1830-1903), who served as hostess at the White House for her uncle James Buchanan from 1857 to 1861. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. It is located in the Mercersburg Historic District.
Academy Award–winning actors Jimmy Stewart and Benicio del Toro both attended Mercersburg Academy, as well as John Hamilton, who played Perry White on Adventures of Superman TV series, and Vanessa Branch, the actress best known for Orbit Gum commercials.
The Buchanan Hotel is a hotel located in downtown Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, on North Main Street. It was the boyhood home of the fifteenth President of the United States, James Buchanan, Jr. and was built by James Buchanan, Sr. in 1796. Buchanan built it as a two story brick residence and the third story was added in the late nineteenth century. It is part of the Mercersburg Historic District, which was listed by the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
William R. King was U.S. Senator from Alabama and Vice President of the U.S. under Franklin Pierce. Believed to be the lover of President James Buchanan, King was referred to as “Miss Nancy” by President Andrew Jackson. However, another contemporary, referred to King as “Aunt Fancy” and also called him Buchanan’s “better half”. King and Buchanan shared an house in Washington, D.C., for 15 years during their Congressional tenures.
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Book Blast: Of Gods and Monsters: Hades by Wulf Francu Godgluck
Of Gods and Monsters: Hades (Of Gods and Monsters 2) by Wulf Francu GodgluckAmazon Kindle: Of Gods and Monsters: Hades (Of Gods and Monsters 2)
Blurb:
******WARNING*******
This is not a story about a hero, or some bad boy-badass-antihero.
This is a love story between two monstrous villains and one valiant kid, held together by their entwined heartstrings.
It won't be pretty.
It won't be pleasant.
There's no fluffy good feelings about it.
It will rip out your heart and never give it back.
Breno Hades el Oscuro took no bullshit from anyone. He ruled the crime world of the United States. When the King fell, what was left in the ashes was not the small boy that grew up without his father, not the same kid that chose a life of crime at seventeen, nor was it the King who had killed and clawed through a river of blood to stand at the top.
The King was dragged from his throne of bones into a deep dark pit, leaving only the raw flesh of a savage monster to crawl out of Hell.
One that knew love, but didn't want it again.
Kemono Orochi was destined to inherit the legacy of his father, known as The Dragon's Tongue. It was an inheritance he never wanted it, never desiring the power that came with the title of Dragon. Kemono ended it all by tearing off the Dragon's head, watching the serpent's remains be consumed in hellfire. Now tormented by the scars of his past inflicted by his father, he is struggling to come to terms with the Akuma he has become.
One that wants to devour everyone in his path to protect the only one that matters to him.
The only person that had ever made his icy heart beat.
His heart. His love. His beautiful pride.
Rex Hunter dreams of becoming a principal ballerino...all fierce, like a Phoenix. But this Phoenix has lost his wings and fallen prey, straight into the clutched claws and callus hands of two vicious beasts. Each bore the blackest of hearts, each desiring to keep him safe, cherished and loved unconditionally. Or was Rex just destined to be the goo that would stick two shattered souls together and prevent them from forever falling to pieces?
There will be blood, gore and nasty shit.
There will be watersports, crude, angry, sometimes sensual and other times just downright dirty and dysfunctional sex.
BUT...
There will always be LOVE...
Because even villains understand the tortured scars love leaves in her wake.
( Excerpt )
Meet the author: They come to me in the night, creeping into my head. Their voices are all different, their stories all dissimilar, but they keep saying the same thing… “Show us, tell us, bring us into your world, and make us known.”
Then I sit and they take over. They tell their tales of love, loss and sinister misfortune. Not all of them get a happy ending, but they are pleased when their part is written.
I sometimes find myself lost in my own mind; a world very similar to our own yet so different. Things don’t go bump in the night— they squeal and crawl under your skin, making you grind your teeth, and making your stomach turn over and putting your nerves on edge. Then there’s the drama. Oh, the drama!
Wulf Francú Godgluck hails from South Africa. His work is not for the faint-hearted! In his books you'll find... all the beasties with their nasty claws and teeth, and some you didn't even know existed.
But the monsters aren't all real. Some live inside us. Who knows what he will make you discover about yourself, lurking in your heart, behind the closed walls in the deep, black recesses where no light penetrates? Wulf will steal your heart and never give it back. More than likely, he'll pin it to the wall with a bobbypin and sit there sipping his tea while you writhe and squeal on the floor...
Where to find the author:
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/TheWulfChron...
Twitter: @turboverse
Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
( Tour Dates & Stops )
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Rafflecopter Prize: E-copy of ‘Hades’ by Wulf Francu Godgluck
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January 21, 2016
Queer Places: Decatur House
Address: Decatur Carriage House, 1610 H St NW, Washington, DC 20006-4907, USA
Decatur House is a historic home in Washington, D.C., named after its first owner and occupant Stephen Decatur.
The house (built, 1818) is located northwest of Lafayette Square, at the southwest corner of Jackson Place and H Street, near the White House. A museum, it now serves as the National Center for White House History, of the White House Historical Association.
It was successively home to Henry Clay, Martin Van Buren, Edward Livingston, who collectively made Decatur House the unofficial residence of the Secretary of State from 1827 to 1833, each renting the house while they served in that post.
In 1836 John Gadsby and his wife Providence moved into the house and brought their house slaves. They built a two-story structure at the back which became the slave quarters for those workers, who previously lived in the main house. This structure remains as one of the few examples of slave quarters in urban areas. It is physical evidence of African Americans' having been held "in bondage in sight of the White House."
Following John Gadsby's death, the home was again rented to a series of prominent tenants. In order, these tenants were Vice President George M. Dallas, publisher and former Mayor of Washington Joseph Gales, Congressmen and brothers John A. King and James G. King, Rep. William Appleton, Speaker of the House James Lawrence Orr and Sen. Judah Benjamin. During the Civil War it was used as Army offices and then it sat empty for 6 years.
Decatur House was purchased in 1872 by Edward Fitzgerald Beale, a frontiersman and explorer who later became a rancher and diplomat. Beale's daughter-in-law, Marie, bequeathed Decatur House to the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1956. The house was designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 1976.
Decatur House, now a museum, is located at 748 Jackson Place, N.W., on President's Park (Lafayette Park). The lower floor is kept in the style of the early 19th century while the upper floor shows more modern renovations of the early 20th century.
Because of the centrality of its location, the status of its residents, and the fact that urban slaves worked there across from the White House, the house now contains more material interpreting African American history. Among the compelling stories is that of Charlotte Dupuy, who in 1829 sued her master Henry Clay, then Secretary of State, for her freedom and that of her two children. While she lost her court case, Clay finally freed Dupuy and her daughter in 1840, and her son in 1844. A special exhibit on African American history through 1965 has recently been added to the museum and its website.
Stephen Decatur was one of America’s first navel heroes. He endured the loss of his closest friend and companion, Richard Somers (ca. 1778-1804, killed during a daring assault on Tripoli), whom he met at college in 1795; prior to a fatal mission, Somers had given Decatur a gold ring, which Decatur wore for the rest of his life.
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Decatur House is a historic home in Washington, D.C., named after its first owner and occupant Stephen Decatur.
The house (built, 1818) is located northwest of Lafayette Square, at the southwest corner of Jackson Place and H Street, near the White House. A museum, it now serves as the National Center for White House History, of the White House Historical Association.
It was successively home to Henry Clay, Martin Van Buren, Edward Livingston, who collectively made Decatur House the unofficial residence of the Secretary of State from 1827 to 1833, each renting the house while they served in that post.
In 1836 John Gadsby and his wife Providence moved into the house and brought their house slaves. They built a two-story structure at the back which became the slave quarters for those workers, who previously lived in the main house. This structure remains as one of the few examples of slave quarters in urban areas. It is physical evidence of African Americans' having been held "in bondage in sight of the White House."
Following John Gadsby's death, the home was again rented to a series of prominent tenants. In order, these tenants were Vice President George M. Dallas, publisher and former Mayor of Washington Joseph Gales, Congressmen and brothers John A. King and James G. King, Rep. William Appleton, Speaker of the House James Lawrence Orr and Sen. Judah Benjamin. During the Civil War it was used as Army offices and then it sat empty for 6 years.
Decatur House was purchased in 1872 by Edward Fitzgerald Beale, a frontiersman and explorer who later became a rancher and diplomat. Beale's daughter-in-law, Marie, bequeathed Decatur House to the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1956. The house was designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 1976.
Decatur House, now a museum, is located at 748 Jackson Place, N.W., on President's Park (Lafayette Park). The lower floor is kept in the style of the early 19th century while the upper floor shows more modern renovations of the early 20th century.
Because of the centrality of its location, the status of its residents, and the fact that urban slaves worked there across from the White House, the house now contains more material interpreting African American history. Among the compelling stories is that of Charlotte Dupuy, who in 1829 sued her master Henry Clay, then Secretary of State, for her freedom and that of her two children. While she lost her court case, Clay finally freed Dupuy and her daughter in 1840, and her son in 1844. A special exhibit on African American history through 1965 has recently been added to the museum and its website.
Stephen Decatur was one of America’s first navel heroes. He endured the loss of his closest friend and companion, Richard Somers (ca. 1778-1804, killed during a daring assault on Tripoli), whom he met at college in 1795; prior to a fatal mission, Somers had given Decatur a gold ring, which Decatur wore for the rest of his life.
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Blog Tour: Full Domain by Kindle Alexander
Full Domain (Nice Guys Novel #3) by Kindle AlexanderSeries: A Nice Guys Novel
Paperback: 398 pages
Publisher: Kindle Alexander LLC (January 9, 2016)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1941450091
ISBN-13: 978-1941450093
Amazon: Full Domain (Nice Guys Novel #3)
Amazon Kindle: Full Domain (Nice Guys Novel #3)
BLURB: Honor, integrity, and loyalty are how Deputy US Marshal Kreed Sinacola lives his life. A former SEAL now employed by the Special Operations Group of the US Marshal Service, Kreed spent most of his life working covert operations and avoiding relationships. Never one to mix business with pleasure, his boundaries blur and his convictions are put to the test when he finally comes face-to-face with the hot computer geek he’s been partnered with. Hell-bent on closing the ongoing case for his longtime friend, he pushes past his own limits and uncovers more than he expects.
Aaron Stuart strives for one thing: justice. Young and full of idealism, his highly sought after computer skills land him a position with the National Security Agency. Aaron’s biggest hazard at his job is cramped fingers, but all that changes when he is drawn into the middle of a dangerous federal investigation. Aaron gets more than he bargained for when the FBI partners him with a handsome and tempting deputy US marshal. His attraction to the inked up, dark-haired man provides another kind of threat altogether. Aaron tries desperately to place a firewall around his heart and fight his developing feelings, knowing one misstep on his part could ultimately destroy him.
The solution isn’t as easy as solving the case, which is treacherous enough as it is. But the growing sexual attraction between them threatens to derail more than just Kreed’s personal convictions as he quickly learns temptation and matters of the heart rarely fit easily into the rules he’s lived by. Will Kreed be able to convince Aaron to open his heart and face the fact that sometimes the answers aren’t always hidden in code?
( TEASERS & EXCERPT )
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Best Selling Author Kindle Alexander is an innovative writer, and a genre-crosser who writes classic fantasy, romance, suspense, and erotica in both the male/male and male/female genres. It's always a surprise to see what's coming next!
I live in the suburbs of Dallas where it's true, the only thing bigger than an over active imagination, may be women's hair!
Usually, I try for funny. Humor is a major part of my life - I love to laugh, and it seems to be the thing I do in most situations - regardless of the situation, but jokes are a tricky deal... I don't want to offend anyone and jokes tend to offend. So instead I'm going to tell you about Kindle.
I tragically lost my sixteen year old daughter to a drunk driver. She had just been at home, it was early in the night and I heard the accident happen. I'll never forget that moment. The sirens were immediate and something inside me just knew. I left my house, drove straight to the accident on nothing more than instinct. I got to be there when my little girl died - weirdly, I consider that a true gift from above. She didn't have to be alone.
That time in my life was terrible. It's everything you think it would be times about a billion. I love that kid. I loved being her mother and I loved watching her grow into this incredibly beautiful person, both inside and out. She was such a gift to me. To have it all ripped away so suddenly broke me.
Her name was Kindle. Honest to goodness - it was her name and she died a few weeks before Amazon released their brand new Kindle ereader. She had no idea it was coming out and she would have finally gotten her name on something! Try finding a ruler with the name Kindle on it.. It never happened.
Through the course of that crippling event I was lucky enough to begin to write with a dear friend in the fan fiction world of Facebook. She got me through those dark days with her unwavering support and friendship. There wasn't a time she wasn't there for me. Sometimes together and sometimes by myself, we built a world where Kindle lives and stands for peace, love and harmony. It's its own kind of support group. I know without question I wouldn't be here today without her.
Find out more by visiting www.kindlealexander.com or email me at kindle@kindlealexander.com
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January 20, 2016
Queer Places: Weybridge Hill Cemetery
Address: Weybridge Hill Cemetery, Weybridge, VT 05753, USA
When Charity Bryant died in 1851, Sylvia Drake moved in with her brother, Asaph, in his big brick house next to what is now the Morgan Horse Farm. When she died, in 1868, they opened Charity’s grave in the cemetery at Weybridge Hill and the two were reunited for eternity.
Weybridge is a small, rural town in Vermont, population 833 as of the 2010 census. Located in Addison County, Weybridge is home to the University of Vermont Morgan Horse Farm and Monument Farms Dairy. Otter Creek weaves through the town on its way to Lake Champlain. Chartered in 1761 by a hardy crew from Connecticut, Weybridge continues its traditions of farming, water power and close community.
Sylvia Drake (1784–1868) and Charity Bryant (1777–1851) met in 1806 in Bridgewater, Massachusetts and quickly formed a passionate friendship. Charity was open about her feelings, imploring Sylvia, “Do not disappoint my hopes and blast my expectations, for…I long to see you, and enjoy your company and conversation.” Within the year, they decided to move to Weybridge, Vermont, where they could live near Miss Drake’s older brother, Asaph. They built a house, now gone, on the corner of Rte. 23 and Drake Road, where they set themselves up in a successful tailoring business.
Sylvia Drake, celebrated the thirty-first anniversary of her life partnership with Charity Bryant in her diary: “Tuesday- 3 (July)—31 years since I left my mother’s house and commenced serving in company with Dear Miss B. Sin mars all earthly bliss, and no common sinner have I been, but God has spared my life, given me every thing I would enjoy and now I have a space, if I improve it, to exercise true penitence. —Sylvia Drake’s Diary, 1838”
Charity’s nephew, William Cullen Bryant, one of 19th Century America’s best-known writers and editors, came to Weybridge to stay with the pair in the July 1843 and described their relationship: “If I were permitted to draw the veil of private life, I would briefly give you the singular, and to me interesting, story of two maiden ladies who dwell in this valley. I would tell you how, in their youthful days, they took each other as companions for life, and how this union, no less sacred to them than the tie of marriage, has subsisted, in uninterrupted harmony, for more than forty years… they have shared each other’s occupations and pleasures and works of charity while in health, and watched over each other in sickness… I could tell you how they slept on the same pillow and had a common purse, and adopted each other’s relations… one of them, more enterprising and spirited than the other, might be said to represent the male head of the family, and took upon herself their transactions with the world without, until at length her health failed, and she was tended by her gentle companion, as a fond wife tends her invalid husband… I would speak of the friendly relations which their neighbors, people of kind hearts and simple manners, seem to take pleasure in bestowing upon them; but I have already said more than I fear they will forgive me for if this should ever meet their eyes, and I must leave the subject.”
Their relationship was no barrier to their full participation in their church. They were Christians and very religious in their attendance at Weybridge Congregational. They were both devout, often attending four religious meetings each week. Sylvia frequently wrote of the comfort she took from sermons like that of April 24, 1836, on “Romans 10,17, For whosoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Friends often came over after church for religious discussions.
Both women tended to be sickly, though it is not clear whether their ailments were cured or caused by the great array of ‘remedies’ they kept trying. One week’s medicines included catnip, harrow, castor oil and opium bought over the counter. Charity’s health finally broke down completely. The Sheldon Museum now has a large cradle they had made, big enough to hold an adult, in which Sylvia would rock Charity to sleep when she was unwell.
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When Charity Bryant died in 1851, Sylvia Drake moved in with her brother, Asaph, in his big brick house next to what is now the Morgan Horse Farm. When she died, in 1868, they opened Charity’s grave in the cemetery at Weybridge Hill and the two were reunited for eternity.
Weybridge is a small, rural town in Vermont, population 833 as of the 2010 census. Located in Addison County, Weybridge is home to the University of Vermont Morgan Horse Farm and Monument Farms Dairy. Otter Creek weaves through the town on its way to Lake Champlain. Chartered in 1761 by a hardy crew from Connecticut, Weybridge continues its traditions of farming, water power and close community.
Sylvia Drake (1784–1868) and Charity Bryant (1777–1851) met in 1806 in Bridgewater, Massachusetts and quickly formed a passionate friendship. Charity was open about her feelings, imploring Sylvia, “Do not disappoint my hopes and blast my expectations, for…I long to see you, and enjoy your company and conversation.” Within the year, they decided to move to Weybridge, Vermont, where they could live near Miss Drake’s older brother, Asaph. They built a house, now gone, on the corner of Rte. 23 and Drake Road, where they set themselves up in a successful tailoring business.
Sylvia Drake, celebrated the thirty-first anniversary of her life partnership with Charity Bryant in her diary: “Tuesday- 3 (July)—31 years since I left my mother’s house and commenced serving in company with Dear Miss B. Sin mars all earthly bliss, and no common sinner have I been, but God has spared my life, given me every thing I would enjoy and now I have a space, if I improve it, to exercise true penitence. —Sylvia Drake’s Diary, 1838”
Charity’s nephew, William Cullen Bryant, one of 19th Century America’s best-known writers and editors, came to Weybridge to stay with the pair in the July 1843 and described their relationship: “If I were permitted to draw the veil of private life, I would briefly give you the singular, and to me interesting, story of two maiden ladies who dwell in this valley. I would tell you how, in their youthful days, they took each other as companions for life, and how this union, no less sacred to them than the tie of marriage, has subsisted, in uninterrupted harmony, for more than forty years… they have shared each other’s occupations and pleasures and works of charity while in health, and watched over each other in sickness… I could tell you how they slept on the same pillow and had a common purse, and adopted each other’s relations… one of them, more enterprising and spirited than the other, might be said to represent the male head of the family, and took upon herself their transactions with the world without, until at length her health failed, and she was tended by her gentle companion, as a fond wife tends her invalid husband… I would speak of the friendly relations which their neighbors, people of kind hearts and simple manners, seem to take pleasure in bestowing upon them; but I have already said more than I fear they will forgive me for if this should ever meet their eyes, and I must leave the subject.”
Their relationship was no barrier to their full participation in their church. They were Christians and very religious in their attendance at Weybridge Congregational. They were both devout, often attending four religious meetings each week. Sylvia frequently wrote of the comfort she took from sermons like that of April 24, 1836, on “Romans 10,17, For whosoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Friends often came over after church for religious discussions.
Both women tended to be sickly, though it is not clear whether their ailments were cured or caused by the great array of ‘remedies’ they kept trying. One week’s medicines included catnip, harrow, castor oil and opium bought over the counter. Charity’s health finally broke down completely. The Sheldon Museum now has a large cradle they had made, big enough to hold an adult, in which Sylvia would rock Charity to sleep when she was unwell.
Google Maps: https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zdRJwtySDT14.k4ln0xmbkVNk&usp=sharing
comments
Blog Tour: When I'm Weak by Aria Grace
When I'm Weak (Mile High Romance #2) by Aria GraceSeries: Mile High Romance
Paperback: 210 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (December 17, 2015)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1522793178
ISBN-13: 978-1522793175
Amazon: When I'm Weak (Mile High Romance #2)
Amazon Kindle: When I'm Weak (Mile High Romance #2)
Blurb: Jamie presents a flamboyant and slutty attitude to the world because he's been hurt before. Even though it's mostly an act, he hides behind his persona to keep people at arm's length. With only a small group of trusted friends, he's vowed to never allow a man to have power over him again. Power to hurt him. Power to take away his freedom. Power to label him as a predator for the rest of his life.
Reed and his sister run a home preschool for toddlers. His focus is on getting credentialed so he can take some of the burden from Abby. He doesn't have time for friends, much less a lover, but when he meets Jamie, he recognizes something in the man that makes him want to get closer.
Unfortunately, Jamie's past prevents him from truly integrating into Reed's future. It's not just a matter of the heart. It's a matter of the law.
( Excerpt )
About the Author: Born and raised in beautiful California, Aria enjoys the year round sunshine and laid back environment of the west coast. Her career started out in tech writing and web development and has evolved into all things marketing with fingers in everything related to book publishing.
She lives with her husband and two children and more pets than she can keep track of. Despite her crazy schedule, she loves the time she carves out to read and write. Whether it's on the beach or on the couch at 2am, she is a woman obsessed!
She loves to hear from readers so please feel free to drop her a note or visit her at www.ariagracebooks.com.
If you'd like to know when Aria's next book is coming out or where she'll be signing, join her mailing list at: http://bit.ly/AriaGraceFanList
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January 19, 2016
Queer Places: The Tegel Palace
Address: Schloss Tegel, Adelheidallee 19, 13507 Berlin, Germany
The Tegel Palace (or Humboldt Palace), originally a Renaissance manor house from 1558 and a hunting lodge of Elector Frederick William of Brandenburg, was bequested to the Humboldt family in 1797. Alexander von Humboldt and Wilhelm von Humboldt lived here for several years. In 1824 Wilhelm had the palace rebuilt in a Neoclassical style by Karl Friedrich Schinkel. In the park is a tomb, where Alexander, Wilhelm and other members of the Humboldt family are buried. From 1927 until 1931 Tegel Palace was the site of a sanatorium, founded by the psychoanalyst Ernst Simmel (1882-1947).
From 1898 on Tegel was the seat of the Borsig-Werke steam locomotive manufacturing company until it moved to Hennigsdorf in Brandenburg in 1931.
Between 1930 and 1934 an artillery firing range in the district was used by the Verein für Raumschiffahrt for experiments with liquid-fueled rockets. The principal names involved were its leader Rudolf Nebel and other staff members Hermann Oberth and Wernher von Braun.
Tegel was the site of a medium wave broadcasting station from 1933 to 1948. A wire hung in a wooden tower served as an antenna. This tower was demolished as part of the construction of Tegel International Airport at the end of 1948.
Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt Humboldt (1769-1859) was a Prussian geographer, naturalist, explorer, and influential proponent of romantic philosophy. He was the younger brother of the Prussian minister, philosopher, and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt (1767–1835). Humboldt's quantitative work on botanical geography laid the foundation for the field of biogeography. Humboldt's advocacy of long-term systematic geophysical measurement laid the foundation for modern geomagnetic and meteorological monitoring.
Much of Humboldt's private life remains a mystery because he destroyed his private letters. While a gregarious personality, he may have harbored a sense of social alienation, which drove his passion for escape through travel.
Humboldt never married: while he was charmed by a number of attractive women, including Henriette, the wife of his mentor Marcus Herz, his sister-in-law Caroline von Humboldt stated "nothing will ever have a great influence on Alexander that doesn't come through men." His life was marked by a pattern of intense male friendships, which sometimes tipped over into romantic passion.
As a student he became infatuated with Wilhelm Gabriel Wegener, a theology student, penning a succession of letters expressing his "fervent love". At 25 he met Reinhardt von Haeften, a 21 year old lieutenant, with whom he lived and travelled with for two years, and to whom he wrote in 1794: "I only live through you, my good precious Reinhardt." When von Haeften became engaged, Humboldt begged to remain living with him and his wife: "Even if you must refuse me, treat me coldly with disdain, I should still want to be with you...the love I have for you is not just friendship or brotherly love, it is veneration."
A travelling companion in the Americas for five years was Aimé Bonpland, and in Quito in 1802 he met the Ecuadorian aristocrat Carlos Monúfar, who travelled with Humboldt to Europe and lived with him. In France, Humboldt travelled and lived with the physicist and balloonist Joseph Louis Gay Lussac. Later he had a deep friendship with the married French astronomer François Arago, whom he met daily for 15 years.
Humboldt once wrote "I don't know sensual needs." However, a pious travelling companion, Francisco José de Caldas, accused him of frequenting houses in Quito where "impure love reigned", of making friends with "obscene dissolute youths", of giving vent to "shameful passions of his heart", and dropping him to travel with "Bonpland and his Adonis"(Monúfar).
Humboldt inherited a significant fortune, but the expense of his travels, and most especially of publishing (thirty volumes in all), had by 1834 made him totally reliant on the pension of King Frederick William III. Although he preferred living in Paris, by 1836 the King had insisted he return to Germany. He lived with the Court at Sans Souci, and latterly in Berlin, with his valet Seifert, who had accompanied him to Russia in 1829.
Four years before his death, Humboldt executed a deed of gift transferring his entire estate to the dominating Seifert, who had by then married and set up a household near Humboldt's apartment. Humboldt had become godfather to his daughter. The scale of the bequest has always drawn speculation, especially as Seifert was some thirty years younger, and introducing lower class partners into households under the guise of servants was then a common practice.
In 1908, the sexual researcher Paul Näcke gathered reminiscences from homosexuals, including Humboldt's friend the botanist Karl Bolle, then 90 years old: some of the material was incorporated by Magnus Hirschfeld into his 1914 study Homosexuality in Men and Women. However, speculations about Humboldt's private life and possible homosexuality continue to remain a fractious issue amongst scholars, particularly as earlier biographers had portrayed him as "a largely asexual, Christ-like Humboldt figure...suitable as a national idol."
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The Tegel Palace (or Humboldt Palace), originally a Renaissance manor house from 1558 and a hunting lodge of Elector Frederick William of Brandenburg, was bequested to the Humboldt family in 1797. Alexander von Humboldt and Wilhelm von Humboldt lived here for several years. In 1824 Wilhelm had the palace rebuilt in a Neoclassical style by Karl Friedrich Schinkel. In the park is a tomb, where Alexander, Wilhelm and other members of the Humboldt family are buried. From 1927 until 1931 Tegel Palace was the site of a sanatorium, founded by the psychoanalyst Ernst Simmel (1882-1947).
From 1898 on Tegel was the seat of the Borsig-Werke steam locomotive manufacturing company until it moved to Hennigsdorf in Brandenburg in 1931.
Between 1930 and 1934 an artillery firing range in the district was used by the Verein für Raumschiffahrt for experiments with liquid-fueled rockets. The principal names involved were its leader Rudolf Nebel and other staff members Hermann Oberth and Wernher von Braun.
Tegel was the site of a medium wave broadcasting station from 1933 to 1948. A wire hung in a wooden tower served as an antenna. This tower was demolished as part of the construction of Tegel International Airport at the end of 1948.
Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt Humboldt (1769-1859) was a Prussian geographer, naturalist, explorer, and influential proponent of romantic philosophy. He was the younger brother of the Prussian minister, philosopher, and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt (1767–1835). Humboldt's quantitative work on botanical geography laid the foundation for the field of biogeography. Humboldt's advocacy of long-term systematic geophysical measurement laid the foundation for modern geomagnetic and meteorological monitoring.
Much of Humboldt's private life remains a mystery because he destroyed his private letters. While a gregarious personality, he may have harbored a sense of social alienation, which drove his passion for escape through travel.
Humboldt never married: while he was charmed by a number of attractive women, including Henriette, the wife of his mentor Marcus Herz, his sister-in-law Caroline von Humboldt stated "nothing will ever have a great influence on Alexander that doesn't come through men." His life was marked by a pattern of intense male friendships, which sometimes tipped over into romantic passion.
As a student he became infatuated with Wilhelm Gabriel Wegener, a theology student, penning a succession of letters expressing his "fervent love". At 25 he met Reinhardt von Haeften, a 21 year old lieutenant, with whom he lived and travelled with for two years, and to whom he wrote in 1794: "I only live through you, my good precious Reinhardt." When von Haeften became engaged, Humboldt begged to remain living with him and his wife: "Even if you must refuse me, treat me coldly with disdain, I should still want to be with you...the love I have for you is not just friendship or brotherly love, it is veneration."
A travelling companion in the Americas for five years was Aimé Bonpland, and in Quito in 1802 he met the Ecuadorian aristocrat Carlos Monúfar, who travelled with Humboldt to Europe and lived with him. In France, Humboldt travelled and lived with the physicist and balloonist Joseph Louis Gay Lussac. Later he had a deep friendship with the married French astronomer François Arago, whom he met daily for 15 years.
Humboldt once wrote "I don't know sensual needs." However, a pious travelling companion, Francisco José de Caldas, accused him of frequenting houses in Quito where "impure love reigned", of making friends with "obscene dissolute youths", of giving vent to "shameful passions of his heart", and dropping him to travel with "Bonpland and his Adonis"(Monúfar).
Humboldt inherited a significant fortune, but the expense of his travels, and most especially of publishing (thirty volumes in all), had by 1834 made him totally reliant on the pension of King Frederick William III. Although he preferred living in Paris, by 1836 the King had insisted he return to Germany. He lived with the Court at Sans Souci, and latterly in Berlin, with his valet Seifert, who had accompanied him to Russia in 1829.
Four years before his death, Humboldt executed a deed of gift transferring his entire estate to the dominating Seifert, who had by then married and set up a household near Humboldt's apartment. Humboldt had become godfather to his daughter. The scale of the bequest has always drawn speculation, especially as Seifert was some thirty years younger, and introducing lower class partners into households under the guise of servants was then a common practice.
In 1908, the sexual researcher Paul Näcke gathered reminiscences from homosexuals, including Humboldt's friend the botanist Karl Bolle, then 90 years old: some of the material was incorporated by Magnus Hirschfeld into his 1914 study Homosexuality in Men and Women. However, speculations about Humboldt's private life and possible homosexuality continue to remain a fractious issue amongst scholars, particularly as earlier biographers had portrayed him as "a largely asexual, Christ-like Humboldt figure...suitable as a national idol."
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Blog Tour: Refired by BA Tortuga
Thank you for visiting BA’s blog tour! This is a special event for the blogs taking part as we want to help BA who is having medical issues right now. It’s our hope that we can help make the book a success to help alleviate some of the medical bills she and her wife will be receiving.Refired (The Recovery 1) by BA Tortuga
Paperback: 220 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (18 Jan. 2016)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1634767322
ISBN-13: 978-1634767323
Amazon: Refired
Amazon Kindle: Refired
Blurb: When Kris Cerny walks back into Two Spirits, the art gallery he owns with Josh McPhee, all he wants is a clean break. Austin's booming real estate market means the building he bought years ago is worth a fortune, and with the sale, he and Josh can finally go their separate ways. They won't be reconciling, right? Josh may be sober now, but an addict is always going to be an addict, and Kris can't take that chance again.
Josh isn't willing to sell. Not yet. He's discovered a new artist in Santa Fe he knows will put Two Spirits in the black, and if he can just make a success of the gallery, maybe he can earn Kris's respect, if not recapture his love. He needs Kris to give him time for one more buying trip, one more gallery show. Josh wants nothing more than a final chance to make things right. Kris agrees to let Josh have this last ditch effort on one condition-- he wants to go along for the ride. On the way Josh hopes they'll find the next big thing in the art world as well as peace, forgiveness, and a love he thought was lost forever.
( Excerpt )
Meet the author: Texan to the bone and an unrepentant Daddy's Girl, BA Tortuga spends her days with her basset hounds, getting tattooed, texting her sisters, and eating Mexican food. When she's not doing that, she's writing. She spends her days off watching rodeo, knitting and surfing porn sites in the name of research. BA's personal saviors include her wife (still amazing to say that), Julia Talbot, her best friend, Sean Michael, and coffee. Lots of coffee. Really good coffee.Having written everything from fist-fighting rednecks to hard-core cowboys to werewolves, BA does her damnedest to tell the stories of her heart, which was raised in Northeast Texas, but has gone to the high desert mountains and fallen in love. With books ranging from hard-hitting GLBT romance, to fiery ménages, to the most traditional of love stories, BA refuses to be pigeon-holed by anyone but the voices in her head.
"Hey there! I’m the luckiest girl on Earth – I’m married to the woman of my dreams, I’ve got the best job in history and I live in the New Mexico mountains. I’ve been publishing romance novels for… whoa. Many years.
Many.
Refired is the story of recovering alcoholic, Josh McPhee, and Kris Cerny, high-powered businessman and rancher – two former lovers that own a failing Austin art gallery together."
1) Tell us something no one else knows about your characters.
Hipster Josh is a huge Air Supply fan. Kris was terrified of horses when he was a little bitty cowboy.
2) Have you ever written something that made you cry?
Shit. Have I ever written something that didn’t make me cry? I’m a huge sap.
3) Have you ever co-written with someone before?
I have. I’ve written with my wife, with my best friend, with my evil twin. I love co-writing and oftentimes I use the hell out of their brains when I’m stuck.
4) What is the most difficult part of writing for you?
Not taking edits personally. It’s such a hard lesson – to understand when the comments are personal, when they’re not. I’m better at it, but I have to work at it, constantly.
5) Name your four most important food groups.
Coffee. Popcorn. Coffee. Coffee.
Where to find the author:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/batortuga
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/BATortugaBoo...
Twitter: @batortuga
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/batortuga/
Other: http://batortuga.blogspot.com
Blog: http://www.batortuga.com
Instagram: https://instagram.com/batortuga/
Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
( Tour Dates & Stops )
Giveaway:
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January 18, 2016
Queer Places: Château de Coppet
Address: Château de Coppet, 1296 Coppet, Switzerland
Jacques Necker, famous finance minister of Louis XV, led a very brilliant life at the Chateau de Coppet. His wife had died near Lausanne on May 6, 1794, and he remained alone with their children in Coppet. At his death in 1804, although the Vaud Revolution abolished feudal rights related to the barony, his heirs were in favor of a massive fortune.
The castle went to his daughter and heiress Germaine Necker, who married in 1786 Baron Erik Magnus de Stael-Holstein, ambassador of the King of Sweden in France, elder by 17 years, then remarried at age 45, to Mr de Rocca, a 20 years her junior officer, from whom she had a son, Alphonse de Rocca. Germaine, better known under the name of Madame de Stael, contributed greatly to the fame of the castle with her literary activity, by bringing together in this house the Coppet Group, the intellectual European elite of the time.
On February 15, 1816, her daughter Albertine (1797-1838) married in Livorno diplomat and statesman Victor de Broglie, 3rd Duke de Broglie. On the death of Germaine de Stael the following year, Coppet passes to his son Louis-Auguste which died in 1827, and then to his son, died in infancy, and then to his widow, blood relative to the Geneva theologian Jacob Vernet - known for his involvement with Rousseau and Voltaire – and finally in 1876 to Louise-Albertine de Broglie (1818-1882), wife of Joseph Othenin Count of d'Haussonville who bequeathed it to her daughter; her progeny still own it.
Germaine de Staël hardly brought modifications to the buildings. She gave the castle in 1809 to his son Louis-Auguste de Stael (1790-1827) who in 1816 asked the carpenter Samuel Chouet of establishing a remarkable Empire library and develops its field by raising (in a very modern style at the time) a new lodge porter in 1820-1822, and creating on its land an English inspired experimental farm, soon known internationally in agronomique’s environments.
The building is registered as a Swiss cultural property of national importance. Private property open to the public, it is maintained since 2004 by an association (Association of Friends of Coppet) charged both of the "conservation and enhancement of Coppet Castle Park" and of the organization of various events. Since 2003, the European Institute of the University of Geneva has installed in the castle its archives. Since 2013, part of the castle is for hosting business seminars.
The Passionate Exiles, A Dual Biography of Madame de Stael and Madame Recamier, by Maurice Levaillant, tells their intimate friendship. The liberal and pan-Germanic views of Madame de Stael resulted in her exile in Switzerland. Juliette Recamier, married to Jacques-Rose Recamier, 30 years her senior, was left financially ruined when his husband sustained heavy financial losses in 1805, and was likewise forced to flee the country. She visited Madame de Stael at Coppet in Switzerland. At Coppet the two women carried on their incomparably entangled love affairs: the son of Madame de Stael, with her approval, becomes one of Jullette's intsest suitors, while Madame de Stael seeks to conceal the birth of an illegitimate child.
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Jacques Necker, famous finance minister of Louis XV, led a very brilliant life at the Chateau de Coppet. His wife had died near Lausanne on May 6, 1794, and he remained alone with their children in Coppet. At his death in 1804, although the Vaud Revolution abolished feudal rights related to the barony, his heirs were in favor of a massive fortune.
The castle went to his daughter and heiress Germaine Necker, who married in 1786 Baron Erik Magnus de Stael-Holstein, ambassador of the King of Sweden in France, elder by 17 years, then remarried at age 45, to Mr de Rocca, a 20 years her junior officer, from whom she had a son, Alphonse de Rocca. Germaine, better known under the name of Madame de Stael, contributed greatly to the fame of the castle with her literary activity, by bringing together in this house the Coppet Group, the intellectual European elite of the time.
On February 15, 1816, her daughter Albertine (1797-1838) married in Livorno diplomat and statesman Victor de Broglie, 3rd Duke de Broglie. On the death of Germaine de Stael the following year, Coppet passes to his son Louis-Auguste which died in 1827, and then to his son, died in infancy, and then to his widow, blood relative to the Geneva theologian Jacob Vernet - known for his involvement with Rousseau and Voltaire – and finally in 1876 to Louise-Albertine de Broglie (1818-1882), wife of Joseph Othenin Count of d'Haussonville who bequeathed it to her daughter; her progeny still own it.
Germaine de Staël hardly brought modifications to the buildings. She gave the castle in 1809 to his son Louis-Auguste de Stael (1790-1827) who in 1816 asked the carpenter Samuel Chouet of establishing a remarkable Empire library and develops its field by raising (in a very modern style at the time) a new lodge porter in 1820-1822, and creating on its land an English inspired experimental farm, soon known internationally in agronomique’s environments.
The building is registered as a Swiss cultural property of national importance. Private property open to the public, it is maintained since 2004 by an association (Association of Friends of Coppet) charged both of the "conservation and enhancement of Coppet Castle Park" and of the organization of various events. Since 2003, the European Institute of the University of Geneva has installed in the castle its archives. Since 2013, part of the castle is for hosting business seminars.
The Passionate Exiles, A Dual Biography of Madame de Stael and Madame Recamier, by Maurice Levaillant, tells their intimate friendship. The liberal and pan-Germanic views of Madame de Stael resulted in her exile in Switzerland. Juliette Recamier, married to Jacques-Rose Recamier, 30 years her senior, was left financially ruined when his husband sustained heavy financial losses in 1805, and was likewise forced to flee the country. She visited Madame de Stael at Coppet in Switzerland. At Coppet the two women carried on their incomparably entangled love affairs: the son of Madame de Stael, with her approval, becomes one of Jullette's intsest suitors, while Madame de Stael seeks to conceal the birth of an illegitimate child.
Google Maps: https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zdRJwtySDT14.k4ln0xmbkVNk&usp=sharing
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