Elisa Rolle's Blog, page 372

2015 Rainbow Awards Submission: Most Beautiful Words by Raine O’Tierney

Most Beautiful Words by Raine O’Tierney
Gay Fantasy Romance
Paperback: 200 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (October 10, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1632162105
ISBN-13: 978-1632162106
Amazon: Most Beautiful Words
Amazon Kindle: Most Beautiful Words

Twelve-year-old Autumn's world is shattered when her beloved Great-Pop, Tommy Johnson, suffers a stroke that leaves him comatose. With everyone around her resigning themselves to the inevitable, Autumn is the only one not willing to give up. She and Great-Pop have more secret stories to share with each other, after all. More stories about Roy McMillan—the great love of Tommy's life whom he lost fifty years ago.

Autumn struggles to keep Great-Pop on this side of death's door. But how can she compete with the beautiful and mysterious Valley—a place of surreal magic where the sun never fully sets? Especially when there's someone familiar in the Valley who will do everything he can to keep Great-Pop from returning to her.

2015 Rainbow Awards Guidelines: http://www.elisarolle.com/rainbowawards/rainbow_awards_2015.html

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2015 Rainbow Awards Submission: Leaving Flowers by Debbie McGowan & Raine O’Tierney

Leaving Flowers by Debbie McGowan & Raine O’Tierney
Gay Contemporary Romance
Paperback: 248 pages
Publisher: Beaten Track Publishing (May 1, 2015)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1910635391
ISBN-13: 978-1910635391
Amazon: Leaving Flowers
Amazon Kindle: Leaving Flowers

Shy and awkward since childhood, Aidan Degas is now a man lost. His twin-Aidan's other half, Nadia-died tragically young, leaving him with nothing to get him through his days but his job at the prestigious Grand Heights Luxury Apartments and the flowers he lays upon her grave. When Aidan is assaulted on the job by a tenant, it's the graveyard he turns to for strength and solace. Patrick loves being assistant groundskeeper at the sprawling cemetery where he tends graves and offers a bit of comfort to mourners. When he sees a sad young man lingering over an old grave, his curiosity is strangely piqued for reasons he doesn't understand. He's never done this-struck up a friendship with a mourner. But soon that friendship blossoms into romance. It's not going to be easy for the pair. Aidan is so damaged, like petals crushed in an angry fist, and even with Patrick's warm heart and Irish charm, it might not be enough to bring him back from the edge.

2015 Rainbow Awards Guidelines: http://www.elisarolle.com/rainbowawards/rainbow_awards_2015.html

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GRL: Nicole Dennis

Starting from June 1, 2015, I will daily feature authors attending the three conventions I will join, Euro Pride in Munich (July), UK Meet in Bristol (September) and GRL in San Diego (October).

For the GRL in San Diego, October 15-18, 2015, today author is Nicole Dennis: Ever the quiet one growing up, Nicole Dennis often slid away from reality and curled up with a book to slip into the worlds of her favorite authors. Over the years, she’s created a personal library full of novels filled with dragons, fairies, vampires, shapeshifters of all kinds and romance. Always she returned to romance. Still, there were these characters in her head, worlds wanting to be built on paper, and stories wanting to be told and she began writing them down whether during or after class. She continues to this day. Only recently has it begun to become fruitful, spreading out to let others read and enter her worlds, meet her characters, and see what she sees. No matter what she writes, her stories of romance with their twists of paranormal, fantasy and erotica will always have their Happily Ever Afters. She currently works in a quiet office in Central Florida, where she also makes her home, and enjoys the down time to slip into her characters and worlds to escape reality from time to time. At home, she becomes human slave to a semi-demonic tortie calico.

Further Readings:

When in Bloom (Southern Charm Book 4) by Nicole Dennis
Series: Southern Charm
Paperback: 222 pages
Publisher: Totally Bound Publishing (February 20, 2015)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1784304417
ISBN-13: 978-1784304416
Amazon: When in Bloom (Southern Charm Book 4)
Amazon Kindle: When in Bloom (Southern Charm Book 4)

Will the personal challenges of a former Army doctor and a brilliant florist get in the way of a chance at life and love? Fighting type one diabetes since childhood, Jude Sebastian runs to prove he can live a normal life, until epileptic seizures begin to change his life. Even with Dawson, his medical alert Golden Labrador, at his side, Jude finds daily life difficult. He owns the floral shop Flowers in the Breeze, and designs everything from simple bouquets to elaborate themes for weddings and celebrations. At the Shore Breeze Clinic, Jude comes across a man clearly suffering with a PTSD episode. A new arrival in the small town, Doctor Elliott Sheffield, a retired Army Ranger doctor, is looking for a second chance after what he saw in the Middle Eastern deserts. Wanting a normal relationship, Jude tries to deny his disorder, but something is happening. He can’t regulate his sugars and his disorder worsens. When he returns to the clinic, Dawson alerts Jude to an oncoming seizure.



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UK Meet: Josephine Myles

Starting from June 1, 2015, I will daily feature authors attending the three conventions I will join, Euro Pride in Munich (July), UK Meet in Bristol (September) and GRL in San Diego (October).

For the UK Meet in Bristol, September 11-13, 2015, today author is Josephine Myles: English through and through, Josephine Myles is addicted to tea and busy cultivating a reputation for eccentricity. She writes gay erotica and romance, but finds the erotica keeps cuddling up to the romance, and the romance keeps corrupting the erotica. She blames her rebellious muse but he never listens to her anyway, no matter how much she threatens him with a big stick. She's beginning to suspect he enjoys it.

Further Readings:

Stuff (The Bristol Collection Book 2) by Josephine Myles
Paperback: 314 pages
Publisher: Samhain Publishing (May 5, 2015)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1619225352
ISBN-13: 978-1619225350
Amazon: Stuff (The Bristol Collection Book 2)
Amazon Kindle: Stuff (The Bristol Collection Book 2)

When Mr. Glad Rags meets Mr. Riches, the result is flaming fun. The Bristol Collection, Book 2 Tobias "Mas" Maslin doesn't need much. A place of his own, weekends of clubbing, a rich boyfriend for love and support. Too bad his latest sugar daddy candidate turns out to be married with kids. Mas wants to be special, not someone's dirty little secret. When he loses his job and his flat on the same day, his world starts unraveling...until he stumbles across a vintage clothing shop. Now to convince the reclusive, eccentric owner he's in dire need of a salesman. Perry Cavendish-Fiennes set up Cabbages and Kinks solely to annoy his controlling father. Truth be told, he'd rather spend every spare moment on his true passion, art. When Mas comes flaming into his life talking nineteen to the dozen, he finds himself offering him a job and a place to live. He should have listened to his instincts. The shop is already financially on the brink, and Mas's flirting makes him feel things he's never felt for a man. Yet Mas seems convinced they can make a go of it-in the shop, and together. Warning: Contains an eccentric, bumbling Englishman, a gobby drama queen, fantastic retro clothing, scary fairies, exes springing out of the woodwork, and a well-aimed glass of bubbly. Written in brilliantly British English.



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Euro Pride Con: Lynn Crain

Starting from June 1, 2015, I will daily feature authors attending the three conventions I will join, Euro Pride in Munich (July), UK Meet in Bristol (September) and GRL in San Diego (October).

For the Euro Pride in Munich, July 11-12, 2015, today author is Lynn Crain: Award winning author Lynn Crain has done it all in her life. From nursing to geology, her life experiences have added to her detail rich stories. She loves writing full time as she weaves contemporary, fantasy, futuristic and paranormal tales, tame to erotic, for various publishers. Her home is in the desert southwest though her latest adventure has taken her to Vienna, Austria with her husband of many years as he works his dream job.

Further Readings:

Night of the Blue Moon (Blue Moon Magic Book 4) by Lynn Crain
Publisher: Shooting Star Books (April 29, 2015)
Amazon Kindle: Night of the Blue Moon (Blue Moon Magic Book 4)

All his life he felt he hadn’t belonged but it wasn’t until Clarity Langford appeared did he know the truth of it. Once that truth was revealed there was no going back for Connor Angus, only forward. He discovers he is the long thought dead son of pack Elite leader, Charles Langford. And with that knowledge comes a family full of sisters, mystery and longing for things he’s not sure he has any right to obtain and one of those things is Cordelia Sinclair.



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Clay Williams & David Groff

Clay Williams is a computer scientist and theologian. His scientific interests include artificial intelligence, combinatorial optimization, computational biology, software engineering, and software validation and verification. He is also interested in complex systems research, and how it helps uncover deep connections between seemingly unrelated biological, physical, and social systems. Complex systems thinking is also the starting point for his post-theistic theological explorations. (Clay Williams, Photo by Alan Barnett)

He received a BS (1987) in computer science from New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, and an MS (1990) and PhD (1994) in computer science from Texas A&M University. His MS thesis topic was on predicting code-based measurements from models, and his PhD work explored combining qualitative and quantitative reasoning to try to understand how individual cell dynamics and cell signaling lead to the emergence of a robust immune response. He also has a degree in Systematic Theology (1997) from the General Theological Seminary, where he wrote a thesis on implications of the theology of Paul Tillich for gay Christians.

Clay currently serves as CEO of a new digital health company, Cohere Health Technologies, which seeks to improve patient engagement through apps, analytics, and consulting.

David Groff is a poet, writer, and independent editor. He and his partner, Clay Williams, married on June 27, 2012. Groff's collection of poems, Clay is named for his husband.

Groff graduated from the University of Iowa, with an MFA, and MA. He has taught at University of Iowa, Rutgers University, and NYU, and at William Paterson University.


David Groff is a poet, writer, and independent editor. He and his partner, Clay Williams, married on June 27, 2012. Groff's collection of poems, Clay is named for his husband.  For the last eleven years, he has worked with literary and popular novelists, memorists, journalists, and scientists. Clay Williams is a computer scientist and theologian. His scientific interests include artificial intelligence, combinatorial optimization, computational biology, software engineering, and software validation and verification.

( Read more... )

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Groff

( Further Readings )


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2015 Rainbow Awards Submission: Willem of the Tafel by Hans M. Hirschi

Willem of the Tafel by Hans M. Hirschi
Gay Young Adult
Paperback: 194 pages
Publisher: Beaten Track Publishing (May 28, 2015)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 191063543X
ISBN-13: 978-1910635438
Amazon: Willem of the Tafel
Amazon Kindle: Willem of the Tafel

The world we know is gone, destroyed by greed and ignorance. On a post-apocalyptic Earth, centuries into the future, few have survived the Great War. Some have taken refuge deep inside a mountain. One of them, Willem, is exiled to the surface... Alone and struggling to survive, Willem embarks on an epic journey, making a discovery that could once again alter the future of humanity. Willem of the Tafel is an epic tale of survival, second chances, hope and undying love.

2015 Rainbow Awards Guidelines: http://www.elisarolle.com/rainbowawards/rainbow_awards_2015.html

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2015 Rainbow Awards Submission: His Womanly Ways by K. Lynn

His Womanly Ways by K. Lynn
Transgender Erotic Romance
Paperback: 176 pages
Publisher: Torquere Press (May 27, 2015)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1610409248
ISBN-13: 978-1610409247
Amazon: His Womanly Ways
Amazon Kindle: His Womanly Ways

Alex is a womanizer. He makes no excuses for it. Yes, he picks up women at the local bar, leaving them with just a memory of a good night and a good lay, but he hasn't had any complaints yet. That is, until he picks up the wrong woman. Not satisfied to be tossed aside as just another notch in Alex's bedpost, she curses him, wishing he "knew what it was like for a woman." And he's about to find out what she means, embarking on a genderswap journey that he can't stop. Alex starts slowly gaining secondary female characteristics. Waking up with his cock gone, replaced by a vagina, was bad enough. Then it gets worse, as his body becomes more like a woman than the man he used to be. Alex tries to hide the changes he's going through, for fear that someone will discover his secret, but keeping this quite literally "under wraps" might be impossible before the curse runs its course. With the help of his female best friend, Eve, Alex tries to deal with who he is becoming. He feels like he's lost his identity, his mind not matching the body he now has. But Eve sticks by him, and they become closer as Alex's changes progress. What started out as friendship may become something more before Alex's journey is over. Perhaps this curse was actually a blessing in disguise.

2015 Rainbow Awards Guidelines: http://www.elisarolle.com/rainbowawards/rainbow_awards_2015.html

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2015 Rainbow Awards Submission: Here Without You by Mia Kerick

Here Without You (One Voice Book 2) by Mia Kerick
Gay Contemporary Romance
Paperback: 216 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (February 16, 2015)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1632165589
ISBN-13: 978-1632165589
Amazon: Here Without You (One Voice Book 2)
Amazon Kindle: Here Without You (One Voice Book 2)

One Voice: Book Two

With all of his scratched and dented heart, Nate DeMarco wants to be two places at once, but he’s been forced to make an unbearable choice. Having barely survived high school, Nate and his boyfriends, Casey Minton and Zander Zane, are ready to move forward. Casey and Zander have left home to attend Boston City College. Nate remains in New Hampshire to protect his volatile younger sister from their increasingly violent alcoholic uncle. Nate suffers with anger, resentment, and loneliness as what he wants battles against what he feels he must do.

Separated, the young men fight to stay in contact. But they are faced with separate issues. Casey copes with residual fear from having been bullied in high school. Zander obsesses over the establishment of One Voice, the gay-straight alliance at Boston City College. And Nate fights for his sister’s survival. Meanwhile, the intensity of the boys’ relationship increases, both sexually and emotionally.

Nate’s effort to live two lives leads to tragedy, which threatens to blast their relationship apart before they can adjust to the changes in their lives. They must find their way back to a united path before it's too late.

2015 Rainbow Awards Guidelines: http://www.elisarolle.com/rainbowawards/rainbow_awards_2015.html

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2015 GRL Featured Blog Tour: Erica Pike

Starting from June 1, 2015, I will daily feature authors attending the three conventions I will join, Euro Pride in Munich (July), UK Meet in Bristol (September) and GRL in San Diego (October). Moreover I'm taking part at the 2015 GRL Featured Blog Tour as Featured Blogger.

For the 2015 Featured Blog Tour, today author is Erica Pike:

Saving Money at GRL

GayRomLit is one of my favorite events of the year. It’s pretty close up there with Christmas. This year will be my fourth and I’m looking forward to it as much as I did the first one. Naturally, I’m less nervous because I know what to expect, but I still get this warm flutter in my stomach whenever I think about October. As always, my trusty side-kick and cousin Thora will travel with me.

Thora and I are flying from Iceland, Europe (not Iceland, California), and GRL is pretty damn expensive. There’s the flight, car rental, hotels, GRL registration, ads, SWAG, books to sell, etc. To top it off, Icelandair only flies to eight cities in the USA this October and the closest one is Seattle, so that means six to eight extra days of driving, dining, and hotels. The whole thing comes down to a pretty hefty sausage to swallow. So what we’ve done is try to find ways to save money on our trips. Here are some that we use at GRL:
- Water: Buy a large pack of bottled water. You can save more by buying large bottles and refill the smaller ones, but I like to be able to grab a small bottle on the go. To save further, you can refill bottles from the sink, but neither of us like the taste of tap water in the USA, so we’ll spend a little extra on the bottled type.
- Snacks: I’m always on the run while I’m there, so we buy a few boxes of granola bars. The USA has a vast variety of them. We’ve come to like the Nature Valley ones, even though they’re sugary – but what isn’t today? This saves money on the in-between meals.
- Fancy Coffee. Thora drinks those chilled coffee drinks, and a way to save a few bucks is to buy them at a supermarket and ask the hotel staff to empty a mini fridge to store them in.
- Meals. We usually don’t buy the hotel breakfast. Last year, breakfast was provided by Riptide and it was the delicious. Never before had I eaten doughnuts so early in the morning. However, if breakfast isn’t included, you can bring your own. Milk for cereal can be stored in the fridge. I also saw this neat ad on Hulu showing how you can heat water in the coffee maker and pour onto instant porridge. If you want to go super cheap, you can replace some meals with Ramen noodles…but, I like to spend lunch and dinner with other GRL attendees, so I’ll splurge on those. Of course, we always attend the sponsored meals, if not for the food then for the company.
- Books. During my first two GRLs, the publishers and authors could sell their books freely. Now we’ve been hit with reality we have to pay sales tax. That often translates into added cost to the buyer. What some publishers and authors did to help save money was to prepare pre-order sheets. That way, the buyers could get the books at reduced prices, often at the author discount. I ordered a lot of books last year and it was nice to be able to pick them up all at once, because I don’t have much time to look at the publishers’ tables, and I don’t have any time during the featured author signing to buy books directly from the authors. I also brought with me unsigned books I had at home.
- Room. The stay at the hotel costs money too, and we save by rooming with two other people. It’s cramped. It’s noisy. But it’s so much fun! And you only pay a quarter of the price.
- Odds and Bits. We always make sure to pack whatever toiletries we need. Everything in the gift shop is insanely expensive, so we tend to walk past them with blinders on.

That’s all I have for money saved during GRL. It kind of makes me sound like a penny pincher, but considering all the other expenses, I have to cut corners where I can.

Thank you, Elisa for hosting me on your blog today. It’s always lovely meeting you at GRL. Hope to see you and your mother again this year.

Black Hurricane by Erica Pike
Paperback: 270 pages
Publisher: MLR Press (August 23, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1608208907
ISBN-13: 978-1608208906
Amazon: Black Hurricane
Amazon Kindle: Black Hurricane

Twenty-three year old Jasper Jones fell in love with Dean McQueen at fourteen, but after a disastrous relationship, Jazz would like nothing better than to see the rock star choke on his own vomit.

After a catastrophic reunion, Dean seems bent on destroying Jazz’s life. It all started when an impromptu bar performance ended up on YouTube and Jazz became an internet sensation overnight. The name “Jazdean” keeps popping up in headlines and the paparazzi stalk his every move. To make matters worse, Jazz is about to end up on the streets for the second time in his life.

In a desperate attempt to keep his home, Jazz signs a deal with Dean’s band, Black Hurricane, to perform at a couple of concerts. It feels like one of Dean’s feeble attempts to get Jazz back, but painted into a corner like he is, Jazz has no choice.



( Excerpt )

Author bio: Erica lives in Iceland with her adorable little twin boys. She often says that her real name sounds like Klingon to foreigners. If “Eyjafjallajokull” looks like a random string of characters it’s nothing in comparison to Erica’s name.
She’s been writing for several years, or ever since reading became an obsession. Aside from a business degree, Erica has taken English courses at the University of Iceland and gulped down anything that might help her in her career as an author. She takes great interest in English, but will break every single grammar rule for the sake of The Voice.
Erica loves hearing from her readers. She’s a friendly, easy-going (if a bit silly) person who doesn’t mind talking about herself in third person.
You can find her at http://www.ericapike.com

Social Media:
Webpage/Blog: http://www.ericapike.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorEricaPike
Twitter: @EricaPike
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/...
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Erica-Pike/e/B0...

( GRL Blog Tour Appearance Schedule )





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