Based out of London, I really couldn’t find much on this artist, but… love her work on this. Check it out. You can connect on Facebook.
Second Chances
Welcome award-winning novelist and short story writer, Nathan Burgoine, to the blog with some insight into his writing.
When I wrote my first novel, Light, there was a bit of recurring feedback from some of the readers who knew my short fiction that made me smile: “I wasn’t expecting to laugh.”
That’s probably fair. I have a reputation for bittersweet when I write short fiction; my first published short story, “Heart,” continues to be one of the stories I get the most feedback about from readers (and mostly about how it made them cry). In short fiction, I like to explore the theme of second chances – and second chances generally require someone to mess up something the first time around.
So, when Light hit the shelves and people started to laugh (which for the record is exactly what I was hoping for and boy was I a wreck waiting to find out if I could be funny or not) I was very pleased. Kieran the telepathic and telekinetic gay massage therapist was a very unlikely superhero who managed to deliver the chuckles I’d hoped he would, even as he fumbled his way into saving the day.
After Light, I’d intended to go back to short stories for a while, but I got a request from Jerry L. Wheeler that was too good to pass up – he was putting together a collection of four novellas with a theme of pursuit, chasing, or tracking down, and wondered if I’d consider submitting something.
Pre-Order Summer Symphony
It’s my pleasure to finally announce that Summer Symphony is available for pre-order from Amazon. This has been a long and difficult road into a subject that hits men and women in their core: the loss of a child.
In essence, this book is a love story, but it is also a challenge to the misinformed perception that men do not grieve when a child is lost through miscarriage, or in this case, a stillbirth. The sheer lack of information I found during the research phase of this book only attested to how pervasive this viewpoint is. It is my hope that readers will find a reality within this book that they may not have considered before, and that they gain an understanding that men do grieve, even when they try to hide it behind the facade required of them by society.
Pre-Order from Amazon
Martin Zoric had vivid dreams of fatherhood, of a small hand pressed to his, of pink dresses and girlish laughter. Then his wife had a stillbirth and his world fell apart.
He listened to the unwanted apologies, stood by his wife as was expected of him, and kept his façade strong and firm for the entire world to see.
But does he have the strength let go and really grieve?
When Ren Wakahisa landed in Croatia he was hoping to escape the cultural pressures put on him to conform. His family wanted him to forsake love for duty. They viewed his happiness as secondary to familial prosperity.
Does he have the courage to be who he wants to be? Or, will he yield to their wishes?
Summer Symphony is the story of how two men find their answers and what they learn about strength, and grace, and the endurance of love.
Honest Reader Reactions to Bad Books
Here’s the flip side of Authors Honest Reactions to Bad Book Reviews post. This one is for the readers, because, let’s face it, authors are human and they make mistakes too. And yes, sometimes a book needs a fecking DNF review. It’s all in fun, so enjoy.
Authors, listen up. (Culled from thousands of reviews around the web.)
1. Labelled Erotic Romance/Fiction
But the sex be like. WTF?!
[Read more…] about Honest Reader Reactions to Bad Books
The Public Performances of David Pratt
I asked author David Pratt to stop by and talk to us about which one of his own books was his favorite and explain why. I’m sure you’ll find his choice as fascinating as I did. ~B
Many thanks to Brandon for inviting me onto the site today, and thanks to all of you for taking a moment to read what I have to say.
Brandon asked me to talk about my favorite book. That was going to be a tough choice. Then he clarified that he meant my favorite of my own books. That would be even tougher! I mean, Bob the Book: who can resist that sweet face? And my new novel, Looking After Joey: who can resist that… everything!? Plus, logically you want to promote your most recent. And a porn character stepping off the screen into someone’s life? Doesn’t that make great copy? But then, so does a novel where the major characters are all gay books. [Read more…] about The Public Performances of David Pratt
Honest Author Reactions to Bad Book Reviews
Political correctness and good PR suggest that writers take criticism in a number of ways, none of which allow them to vent their often honest feelings about bad reviews. So, in good fun…this one is for writer’s everywhere. (And yes, we have one coming for readers.)
Disclaimer: Before I get another author behaving badly badge, these were taken from 1000’s of reviews I’ve gone through in 20-odd genres. So if you think I’m picking on you, well, maybe I am. Or, you can just have a laugh at the ridiculousness that has become the back and forth in reviewing books in this day and age. It is all meant in fun.
Want to know what readers think? >> Honest Reader Reactions to Bad Books
1. The tongue wrangler
S/he just goes on and on about how bad your book was when ten or twenty sentences will do just fine. We get it. You hated it.
2. The nonbeliever
[Read more…] about Honest Author Reactions to Bad Book Reviews