Brandon

Afflicted – MM Romance – First Review

September 4, 2012 By Brandon Leave a Comment

4.5 Star Book Review

“I have to congratulate the author for such beautiful writing. Every emotion – lust, loneliness, anger, insecurity- was so magnificently written that I felt each and every one of them. Especially Hunter’s. The author managed to describe these in a way that really let me relate to him. The sex scenes described from Hunter’s POV were splendid. At first, I had to really pay attention since it was so very different from what you read everyday with a sighted MC. The author described every single detail using the other senses – how it felt, smelled, tasted and sounded…” Read the whole review at LeAnn’s Book Reviews

Afflicted will be available at all online retailers on Sept 15th.

Assumption and prejudice – from beta readers

August 29, 2012 By Brandon 2 Comments

Consider this.

My book, Afflicted came out in September. It is an HEA M/M novel that deals with a blind man and male prostitute who was thrown from the house as a young boy because he was gay. When I passed it on to my beta readers they loved the story, its eroticism, and its passion, but some of the comments I got back dismayed me:

Gay kid thrown from the house and becomes a hustler is a bit passe.

500,000 homeless gay kids on the street right now, more than a few of them selling their bodies for $10 for a warm bed (for one night) and the concept is passe? Is this where we have come to? That we can scream about a chicken sandwich but step over a 15 yr old kid whose parents didn’t think him worthy of being called human? What does that say about how homophobia has really affected us when we can, as a community, accept homeless kids as normal or passe? Even in a fictional story the idea insults my heart. [Read more…] about Assumption and prejudice – from beta readers

Changing Perceptions with Romance Writing: An Interview with Ranae Rose

August 29, 2012 By Brandon 3 Comments

I’m talking with Ranae Rose today, a Bestselling Romance Author with over a dozen books under her belt. As you could’ve probably guessed we’re talking about how romance changes perceptions, and specifically how it has changed perceptions in regards to LGBTQ people and their relationships.

B: Do you think romance novels enhance the perception of LGBT people? The reason I ask is that I just spoke with someone who was dismayed at the seeming plethora of M/M fiction on major books sites like Amazon and Kobo when they went searching for gay (non-sexual) fiction. It’s my personal opinion that the popularity of M/M fiction among heterosexual women is one of the major reasons we have seen such a shift in the overall public perception of LGBT people. Your thoughts? [Read more…] about Changing Perceptions with Romance Writing: An Interview with Ranae Rose

10% of Book Sales to LGBT Youth Charity

August 28, 2012 By Brandon Leave a Comment

As of September 1st, 2012 ten percent (10%) of ALL book sales will go to two LGBT Youth Charities

As most of my regular readers already know, it was previously set up so that 50% of the proceeds from The Value of Rain went to two charities working with LGBTQ youth. Unfortunately, that has turned into an accounting nightmare in which the end loser is the charities themselves. With two books out, another coming out in September, and several more planned for next year I can see this getting worse.

Changing how I raise funds will allow all my readers to know that their money is going to a solid cause (getting homeless LGBT kids off the street) and broaden the choices for those readers while at the same time giving me/us the ability to send more money to the nonprofits involved. (10% of multiple books is more than 50% of one). [Read more…] about 10% of Book Sales to LGBT Youth Charity

Congratulations to the Blog Hop Winners!

August 27, 2012 By Brandon 1 Comment

I want to thank everyone that left a comment on the Rainbow Book Reviews blog hop. There were so many overwhelmingly positive comments that I decided to give away 5 FREE COPIES of Afflicted instead of just one. Winners were chosen at random utilizing random.org.

The winners are:

Jessica K Lang

Amanda

Tracey D.

Penumbra

Lisa H.

Congratulations!!! You’ll be receiving an email from me shortly.

And thanks again to everyone that left a comment.

What does writing LGBTQ literature mean to me?

August 23, 2012 By Brandon 53 Comments

Welcome Blog Hoppers

This is actually a tougher question than it seems. When I first signed on for this blog-hop I said, Oh that’s easy! I know why I do it. But the question wasn’t Why? It was what does writing LGBTQ lit mean to you? I spent many, many days tossing this around because writing has been such an intricate part of my life for so long that it has never really had a singular meaning. [Read more…] about What does writing LGBTQ literature mean to me?