Event: Reading with Cat Grant

Date: July 17th, 2010
Time: from 5 PM to 7 p.m.
Place: Pure Pleasure in Santa Cruz
204 Church Street
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
http://www.purepleasureshop.com/

Cat Grant will do a book signing on Saturday, July 17th from 5 PM to 7 PM, at Pure Pleasure in Santa Cruz.

Pure Pleasure is a welcoming pleasure shop located in Santa Cruz, California, and is locally owned by Amy Baldwin and Janis Baldwin. The concept behind Pure Pleasure was developed by Amy and her mother, Janis, and was created out of the need for a more inviting sex shop within the Santa Cruz community. Pure Pleasure aims to promote sexual diversity, offering something for the pleasure inside us all.

Triad by Cat Grant
Paperback: 220 pages
Publisher: Lyrical Press, Inc (June 1, 2010)
ISBN-10: 1616501839
ISBN-13: 978-1616501839
Amazon: Triad

It's three times the pleasure - ten years on! Eric Courtland, his wife Ally and husband Nick have been living the sweet life for the past decade, tucked away in their luxurious Tuscan villa. But when a family crisis brings them back to the States, blackmail and an unexpected revelation threaten the delicate balance of their marriage. Weathering this storm may take everything they have - and still tear them apart.

Event: Reading with Cat Grant

Date: July 17th, 2010
Time: from 5 PM to 7 p.m.
Place: Pure Pleasure in Santa Cruz
204 Church Street
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
http://www.purepleasureshop.com/

Cat Grant will do a book signing on Saturday, July 17th from 5 PM to 7 PM, at Pure Pleasure in Santa Cruz.

Pure Pleasure is a welcoming pleasure shop located in Santa Cruz, California, and is locally owned by Amy Baldwin and Janis Baldwin. The concept behind Pure Pleasure was developed by Amy and her mother, Janis, and was created out of the need for a more inviting sex shop within the Santa Cruz community. Pure Pleasure aims to promote sexual diversity, offering something for the pleasure inside us all.

Triad by Cat Grant
Paperback: 220 pages
Publisher: Lyrical Press, Inc (June 1, 2010)
ISBN-10: 1616501839
ISBN-13: 978-1616501839
Amazon: Triad

It's three times the pleasure - ten years on! Eric Courtland, his wife Ally and husband Nick have been living the sweet life for the past decade, tucked away in their luxurious Tuscan villa. But when a family crisis brings them back to the States, blackmail and an unexpected revelation threaten the delicate balance of their marriage. Weathering this storm may take everything they have - and still tear them apart.

Skipping Stones by D.J. Manly

This is an example of gay “modern” romance; it’s for sure a romance, it’s about love and expectation, but it’s also modern since there is no the concept of sex indissolubly linked to love. Sex is something physical, for sure it’s also about love, but sex can be also comfort, sex can be lust and obsession.

Leo is a young American artist living in Paris; until he was in love with Pierre, an handsome French businessman, Paris was a wonderful city, full of possibilities, odours and colours. Now that Leo has discovered that Pierre is married and a cheater, Paris is grey and rainy and Leo wants to be back home. Mark, his childhood best friend and Leo’s first crush, offers him a job as handyman in the fancy gay resort he is managing in Florida; Mark has a similar experience as Leo, he was in love with Reed, the owner of the resort, but Reed didn’t love him back, and now Mark is pining waiting for the few times in the year Reed comes back in Florida.

Of course, as soon as Leo arrives to the resort, also Reed chooses to pay one of his exceptional visits; Leo is ready to hate him, on Mark’s account, but indeed Reed is handsome, kind and somewhat sad; Reed draws Leo like a moth to the light, and even if Leo knows that there will be the drama, he is unable to resist.

There is a complex game of snap: Mark loves Reed and uses Leo to make Reed’s jealous; Reed is not at all jealous and wants Leo; Leo has sex with Mark to comfort him on loosing Reed, but loves Reed; Adrian, another guest at the resort, loves Mark but pushes him in Reed’s arms since he knows he can’t really have him… In the middle of all of this, Leo is supposedly in love with Pierre, he was in love with Mark when they were young and maybe is wishing to rekindle the flame, and lusts after Reed; plus, he is not blind and is able to see how handsome and clever Adrian is, so even him is another possible player in the game of above.

I like Leo’s attitude, even when he is heartbroken, he is honest enough with himself to admit that, even if he is swearing off men, in a love relationship perspective, he is not a liar, and he admits that he still wants sex; sex, as I said, is a comfort for the body, and a good healer for the heart. Indeed, Reed is a rebound love, but on the contrary of most of these types of lovers, he makes an even deeper impression on Leo’s heart of the lover he is trying to forget. Leo indeed is really young, and as all the young people, he is able to heal for a broken heart faster and sooner than older men.

I also like that, even if Leo knows that having a relationship with Reed he will face drama and trouble with Mark, he is so madly in lust/love with him that he doesn’t care; he is like a willing participant on a crash test who doesn’t care knowing there will be a crash, what it counts is the excitement and satisfaction he will find in the race.

http://www.amberquill.com/AmberAllure/SkippingStones.html

Amazon: Skipping Stones

Amazon Kindle: Skipping Stones

Reading List:

http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading list&view=elisa.rolle

Skipping Stones by D.J. Manly

This is an example of gay “modern” romance; it’s for sure a romance, it’s about love and expectation, but it’s also modern since there is no the concept of sex indissolubly linked to love. Sex is something physical, for sure it’s also about love, but sex can be also comfort, sex can be lust and obsession.

Leo is a young American artist living in Paris; until he was in love with Pierre, an handsome French businessman, Paris was a wonderful city, full of possibilities, odours and colours. Now that Leo has discovered that Pierre is married and a cheater, Paris is grey and rainy and Leo wants to be back home. Mark, his childhood best friend and Leo’s first crush, offers him a job as handyman in the fancy gay resort he is managing in Florida; Mark has a similar experience as Leo, he was in love with Reed, the owner of the resort, but Reed didn’t love him back, and now Mark is pining waiting for the few times in the year Reed comes back in Florida.

Of course, as soon as Leo arrives to the resort, also Reed chooses to pay one of his exceptional visits; Leo is ready to hate him, on Mark’s account, but indeed Reed is handsome, kind and somewhat sad; Reed draws Leo like a moth to the light, and even if Leo knows that there will be the drama, he is unable to resist.

There is a complex game of snap: Mark loves Reed and uses Leo to make Reed’s jealous; Reed is not at all jealous and wants Leo; Leo has sex with Mark to comfort him on loosing Reed, but loves Reed; Adrian, another guest at the resort, loves Mark but pushes him in Reed’s arms since he knows he can’t really have him… In the middle of all of this, Leo is supposedly in love with Pierre, he was in love with Mark when they were young and maybe is wishing to rekindle the flame, and lusts after Reed; plus, he is not blind and is able to see how handsome and clever Adrian is, so even him is another possible player in the game of above.

I like Leo’s attitude, even when he is heartbroken, he is honest enough with himself to admit that, even if he is swearing off men, in a love relationship perspective, he is not a liar, and he admits that he still wants sex; sex, as I said, is a comfort for the body, and a good healer for the heart. Indeed, Reed is a rebound love, but on the contrary of most of these types of lovers, he makes an even deeper impression on Leo’s heart of the lover he is trying to forget. Leo indeed is really young, and as all the young people, he is able to heal for a broken heart faster and sooner than older men.

I also like that, even if Leo knows that having a relationship with Reed he will face drama and trouble with Mark, he is so madly in lust/love with him that he doesn’t care; he is like a willing participant on a crash test who doesn’t care knowing there will be a crash, what it counts is the excitement and satisfaction he will find in the race.

http://www.amberquill.com/AmberAllure/SkippingStones.html

Amazon: Skipping Stones

Amazon Kindle: Skipping Stones

Reading List:

http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading list&view=elisa.rolle

Paul Richmond: Uncovered Contest 2

Hi everyone! I’m excited to be back and share some of my recent cover artwork as well as announce a brand-spanking new contest (sadly, there is no actual spanking involved). Even though I’ve been busy “uncovering” celebrities in my latest art exhibit, Cheesecake, I’ve also been helping “cover up” some fabulous novels by my friends in the gay fiction world -- so I have much to show off today. Let’s get right to it! 

( The Hired Man )

Last year, I held a contest called “Uncovered” and many of you helped select “The Hired Man” as the first giclee print offering in my online store. [http://www.etsy.com/listing/34001343/the-hired-man-limited-edition-giclee] Apparently something about the sudsy dreamboat in that painting struck a chord with many of you. And now I’m back again — and feeling as indecisive as ever! This time, I have four cover illustrations for you to choose from. Decisions, decisions! And one lucky voter will randomly be chosen to receive the first print in the series as well as the corresponding novel/novella courtesy of Dreamspinner Press. Yay! So go cast your vote now! [http://www.paulrichmonduncovered.blogspot.com] (Don’t worry, I’ll wait for you here...) 



Ok, now that we have that out of the way, let the show-and-tell session begin! First of all, I had an amazing time at the Cheesecake opening last month and the exhibit was a big success. Thanks for all the well-wishes as I prepared for my first solo show in Chicago, especially the countless people who wrote to remind me to wear a belt. :) Fortunately, the only wardrobe malfunctions at the event occurred on canvas! If you would like to see photos and read a recap of the show, check out my Cheesecake blog post here:


 
http://paulrichmondstudio.blogspot.com/2010/06/cheesecake-recap.html

The Cheesecake Boys weren’t the only handsome fellows hanging out on my easel over the last few months. I have been fortune to illustrate many gay fiction novel covers too, and some of those cover boys give the Cheesecake hunks a run for their money. I thought I’d share some of my favorites and give you a behind-the-scenes tour.

Anthology covers like “Midsummer’s Nightmare” are fun because the subject matter is a little more open than usual. Inevitably, giving me that much control means that someone’s getting caught with their pants down! This time, our heroes are stirred from their slumber by “Things That Go Bump In The Night,” leaving them no time to cover their tighty whities and skull-patterned undies respectively. It’s one part Hardy Boys, one part Nancy Drew, and one part Marky Mark. 

( Midsummer's Nightmare )

Anyone who has met me would probably laugh at the thought of my name and ‘butch’ being in the same sentence, but I had to channel my inner macho man when working on the cover for “First Blood” by Aleksandr Voinov and Barbara Sheridan, the sequel to last year’s “Clean Slate.” 



“Conway’s Curse” by Patric Michael features a couple of scantily-clad sprites in the forest. Once I read that in the cover request form, I was sold! I had the same response to “Rogue Wolf” by Violet Hilton when I read that it took place in outer space. I absolutely ADORE the creativity of the authors in this genre! Keep ‘em coming! 

( Conway's Curse )

 

( Rogue Wolf )

And who doesn’t love gay cowboys? I always enjoy doing covers with a western theme, so I had fun with “Two Marked Men” by Roland Graeme. It’s a great way for me to pretend I’m out riding the range -- without sacrificing the comforts of my air conditioned studio, of course. After all, I’m not so into the whole outdoorsy thing in real life. 

( Two Marked Men )

Two of my most recent cover illustrations, “Irreversible Error” by Wolf Phoenix and “Valley of Shadows” by Phoenix Emrys both feature female presences (although one’s a drag queen, but that still counts!) lurking mysteriously in the background. I thought they were a fabulous addition. After all, where would gay men be without the important ladies in our lives? Of course, if I were illustrating my own life story, I would have to show myself with Cher peeking over one corner and Dolly Parton over the other! 

( Irreversible Error )

 

( Valley of Shadows )

I like the tension in the air in the cover illustration for “In His Arms Again” by Lisa Marie Davis. The fellow in his skivvies on the bed is obviously hoping to catch his friend’s eye, and by the looks of it, I think his plan is working! Hopefully he will catch a few readers’ eyes as well. I love cover art that makes you wonder about the scenes preceding and following the one being shown. Don’t you want to know what happens next? 

( In His Arms Again )

And here are a few more from the “Recent Works” file, including a few that are currently in process to whet your appetite for more great summer reading to come from Dreamspinner Press:

( Born to be Wylde )

( Per Adua )

( Dance of Death )

( Home )

( Jasper's Journey )

I’m grateful that I get the opportunity to have such fun with my work, and collaborate with so many creative people along the way. Thanks again for welcoming me into this amazing genre! And many thanks to Elisa for opening the door and continuing to encourage me every step along the way.

Good luck to everyone who enters the “Uncovered” contest. Join me on August 15 at MichelenJeff’s blog “Author Interviews, Book Reviews and More” [http://michelenjeff-reviews.blogspot.com/] when I reveal the winner!

Paul Richmond: Uncovered Contest 2

Hi everyone! I’m excited to be back and share some of my recent cover artwork as well as announce a brand-spanking new contest (sadly, there is no actual spanking involved). Even though I’ve been busy “uncovering” celebrities in my latest art exhibit, Cheesecake, I’ve also been helping “cover up” some fabulous novels by my friends in the gay fiction world -- so I have much to show off today. Let’s get right to it! 

( The Hired Man )

Last year, I held a contest called “Uncovered” and many of you helped select “The Hired Man” as the first giclee print offering in my online store. [http://www.etsy.com/listing/34001343/the-hired-man-limited-edition-giclee] Apparently something about the sudsy dreamboat in that painting struck a chord with many of you. And now I’m back again — and feeling as indecisive as ever! This time, I have four cover illustrations for you to choose from. Decisions, decisions! And one lucky voter will randomly be chosen to receive the first print in the series as well as the corresponding novel/novella courtesy of Dreamspinner Press. Yay! So go cast your vote now! [http://www.paulrichmonduncovered.blogspot.com] (Don’t worry, I’ll wait for you here...) 



Ok, now that we have that out of the way, let the show-and-tell session begin! First of all, I had an amazing time at the Cheesecake opening last month and the exhibit was a big success. Thanks for all the well-wishes as I prepared for my first solo show in Chicago, especially the countless people who wrote to remind me to wear a belt. :) Fortunately, the only wardrobe malfunctions at the event occurred on canvas! If you would like to see photos and read a recap of the show, check out my Cheesecake blog post here:


 
http://paulrichmondstudio.blogspot.com/2010/06/cheesecake-recap.html

The Cheesecake Boys weren’t the only handsome fellows hanging out on my easel over the last few months. I have been fortune to illustrate many gay fiction novel covers too, and some of those cover boys give the Cheesecake hunks a run for their money. I thought I’d share some of my favorites and give you a behind-the-scenes tour.

Anthology covers like “Midsummer’s Nightmare” are fun because the subject matter is a little more open than usual. Inevitably, giving me that much control means that someone’s getting caught with their pants down! This time, our heroes are stirred from their slumber by “Things That Go Bump In The Night,” leaving them no time to cover their tighty whities and skull-patterned undies respectively. It’s one part Hardy Boys, one part Nancy Drew, and one part Marky Mark. 

( Midsummer's Nightmare )

Anyone who has met me would probably laugh at the thought of my name and ‘butch’ being in the same sentence, but I had to channel my inner macho man when working on the cover for “First Blood” by Aleksandr Voinov and Barbara Sheridan, the sequel to last year’s “Clean Slate.” 



“Conway’s Curse” by Patric Michael features a couple of scantily-clad sprites in the forest. Once I read that in the cover request form, I was sold! I had the same response to “Rogue Wolf” by Violet Hilton when I read that it took place in outer space. I absolutely ADORE the creativity of the authors in this genre! Keep ‘em coming! 

( Conway's Curse )

 

( Rogue Wolf )

And who doesn’t love gay cowboys? I always enjoy doing covers with a western theme, so I had fun with “Two Marked Men” by Roland Graeme. It’s a great way for me to pretend I’m out riding the range -- without sacrificing the comforts of my air conditioned studio, of course. After all, I’m not so into the whole outdoorsy thing in real life. 

( Two Marked Men )

Two of my most recent cover illustrations, “Irreversible Error” by Wolf Phoenix and “Valley of Shadows” by Phoenix Emrys both feature female presences (although one’s a drag queen, but that still counts!) lurking mysteriously in the background. I thought they were a fabulous addition. After all, where would gay men be without the important ladies in our lives? Of course, if I were illustrating my own life story, I would have to show myself with Cher peeking over one corner and Dolly Parton over the other! 

( Irreversible Error )

 

( Valley of Shadows )

I like the tension in the air in the cover illustration for “In His Arms Again” by Lisa Marie Davis. The fellow in his skivvies on the bed is obviously hoping to catch his friend’s eye, and by the looks of it, I think his plan is working! Hopefully he will catch a few readers’ eyes as well. I love cover art that makes you wonder about the scenes preceding and following the one being shown. Don’t you want to know what happens next? 

( In His Arms Again )

And here are a few more from the “Recent Works” file, including a few that are currently in process to whet your appetite for more great summer reading to come from Dreamspinner Press:

( Born to be Wylde )

( Per Adua )

( Dance of Death )

( Home )

( Jasper's Journey )

I’m grateful that I get the opportunity to have such fun with my work, and collaborate with so many creative people along the way. Thanks again for welcoming me into this amazing genre! And many thanks to Elisa for opening the door and continuing to encourage me every step along the way.

Good luck to everyone who enters the “Uncovered” contest. Join me on August 15 at MichelenJeff’s blog “Author Interviews, Book Reviews and More” [http://michelenjeff-reviews.blogspot.com/] when I reveal the winner!

Call for submissions: Filament magazine

UK-based international women's magazine Filament is looking for fiction submissions from new or established writers from any country. They publish three stories each issue, illustrated.

They do publish:
- Stories of fewer than 2250 words. There is no minimum word length.
- Female/male pairings, male/male pairings, men alone or women alone, groups. We particularly welcome M/M stories as we don't receive as many of these as we'd like.
- Interesting and imaginative settings. For example, historical settings, unusual locations, fantasy, sci-fi etc
- Stories with characters that are interesting, believable and understandable
- Stories that defy the conventions of erotic fiction.

Upcoming themes and deadlines
Issue 7: 1 December 2010, Deadline 30 September 2010 - Theme: Red
Issue 8: 1 March 2011, Deadline 31 December 2010 - Theme: Water

They're in talks about a sponsorship arrangement that would be trialled for Issue 7, so writers of stories they published would receive £25-100 cash. You'll definitely get two free copies of the magazine and a lot of love. Follow filamentmag  for updates to guidelines and the like.

Please read our full fiction guidelines before submitting anything - click here (PDF)

Crossposted from: http://community.livejournal.com/erotic_authors/162911.html

Call for submissions: Filament magazine

UK-based international women's magazine Filament is looking for fiction submissions from new or established writers from any country. They publish three stories each issue, illustrated.

They do publish:
- Stories of fewer than 2250 words. There is no minimum word length.
- Female/male pairings, male/male pairings, men alone or women alone, groups. We particularly welcome M/M stories as we don't receive as many of these as we'd like.
- Interesting and imaginative settings. For example, historical settings, unusual locations, fantasy, sci-fi etc
- Stories with characters that are interesting, believable and understandable
- Stories that defy the conventions of erotic fiction.

Upcoming themes and deadlines
Issue 7: 1 December 2010, Deadline 30 September 2010 - Theme: Red
Issue 8: 1 March 2011, Deadline 31 December 2010 - Theme: Water

They're in talks about a sponsorship arrangement that would be trialled for Issue 7, so writers of stories they published would receive £25-100 cash. You'll definitely get two free copies of the magazine and a lot of love. Follow filamentmag  for updates to guidelines and the like.

Please read our full fiction guidelines before submitting anything - click here (PDF)

Crossposted from: http://community.livejournal.com/erotic_authors/162911.html

Top 100 Gay Novel: The Phoenix by Ruth Sims

This was one of the first historical gay romances I read, well if you don’t consider Maurice by E.M. Forster, and I still remember the impression it left me. I decided to re-read it now, since I had my print copy, and again, I’m surprise at how daring this romance is, while maintaining the feeling of a classic. Even if the two men in this romance behave accordingly to their age and period, they are lovers, and it’s clear to the reader that there is passion, and lust, between them. The reader is not left there wondering, they did it or they didn’t?, but instead he is well aware that to the eyes of the majority of people, these men are sinners, but to their own eyes, they are simple in love, a love that doesn’t know space or time barriers.

In the best tradition of the English classic literature, see Tom Jones or Oliver Twist or Molly Flanders, our main hero, Kit St. Denys, despite the fancy name and the fashionable career as actor and theatre owner, has a obscure past as pickpocket and a tragedy that still haunts him. He was lucky, and he was “adopted” by a wealthy man without sons who made him his official heir; benefactor was gay, as Kit is, but they never went beyond the relationship between father and son, and indeed, maybe Kit has a good role model from whom learn how a nineteen century gay man should behave. But Kit’s reckless nature, and maybe his strong will, prevents him to be one another closeted gay man with a wife in the country and a male lover in the city, and he decides to live his life in the open, maybe helped in that from the notorious scandalous life of an actor and the money he inherited by his patron.

Problem is that Kit falls in love for Nicholas Stuart, a country boy who was raised in a very strict family; Nicholas already rebelled to his father becoming a “modern” doctor, going to college and opening a practice in the city. He is already sinning, at least at the eyes of his father, and so when Kit bursts into his life he is yet another sin to add to the list. And Nicholas sins, and sins again, and he enjoys it, but he is never free from the sense of guilty and the need to be forgiven; any small sign he receives it is like a sign leading him far from Kit, and far from the happiness he finds with him. Nicholas can’t be happy, since that life is a forbidden fruit, Kit is the luscious apple tempting him.

Nicholas will do everything to punish himself, and life will help him; and Kit will do everything to not allow Nicholas to forget who is the real love of his life. This I like of Kit, he is never repentant, at least not for the sin of loving a man; Kit has plenty of sense of guilty, but loving Nicholas is not one more sin to add to the list, since for Kit loving is not a sin.

The happiness for these two men will not come for free, and that is yet another point I liked: this novel has a some sort of happily ever after, their punishment will not be to be apart from each other, but they will have to renounce to something; in the end, to understand if they really have an happily ever after, you need to balance what they lost and what they found, and deciding the importance of both.

http://lethepressbooks.com/gay.htm#sims-the-phoenix

Amazon: The Phoenix

Amazon Kindle: The Phoenix

Ruth Sims's In the Spotlight post: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/754133.html

Top 100 Gay Novel: The Phoenix by Ruth Sims

This was one of the first historical gay romances I read, well if you don’t consider Maurice by E.M. Forster, and I still remember the impression it left me. I decided to re-read it now, since I had my print copy, and again, I’m surprise at how daring this romance is, while maintaining the feeling of a classic. Even if the two men in this romance behave accordingly to their age and period, they are lovers, and it’s clear to the reader that there is passion, and lust, between them. The reader is not left there wondering, they did it or they didn’t?, but instead he is well aware that to the eyes of the majority of people, these men are sinners, but to their own eyes, they are simple in love, a love that doesn’t know space or time barriers.

In the best tradition of the English classic literature, see Tom Jones or Oliver Twist or Molly Flanders, our main hero, Kit St. Denys, despite the fancy name and the fashionable career as actor and theatre owner, has a obscure past as pickpocket and a tragedy that still haunts him. He was lucky, and he was “adopted” by a wealthy man without sons who made him his official heir; benefactor was gay, as Kit is, but they never went beyond the relationship between father and son, and indeed, maybe Kit has a good role model from whom learn how a nineteen century gay man should behave. But Kit’s reckless nature, and maybe his strong will, prevents him to be one another closeted gay man with a wife in the country and a male lover in the city, and he decides to live his life in the open, maybe helped in that from the notorious scandalous life of an actor and the money he inherited by his patron.

Problem is that Kit falls in love for Nicholas Stuart, a country boy who was raised in a very strict family; Nicholas already rebelled to his father becoming a “modern” doctor, going to college and opening a practice in the city. He is already sinning, at least at the eyes of his father, and so when Kit bursts into his life he is yet another sin to add to the list. And Nicholas sins, and sins again, and he enjoys it, but he is never free from the sense of guilty and the need to be forgiven; any small sign he receives it is like a sign leading him far from Kit, and far from the happiness he finds with him. Nicholas can’t be happy, since that life is a forbidden fruit, Kit is the luscious apple tempting him.

Nicholas will do everything to punish himself, and life will help him; and Kit will do everything to not allow Nicholas to forget who is the real love of his life. This I like of Kit, he is never repentant, at least not for the sin of loving a man; Kit has plenty of sense of guilty, but loving Nicholas is not one more sin to add to the list, since for Kit loving is not a sin.

The happiness for these two men will not come for free, and that is yet another point I liked: this novel has a some sort of happily ever after, their punishment will not be to be apart from each other, but they will have to renounce to something; in the end, to understand if they really have an happily ever after, you need to balance what they lost and what they found, and deciding the importance of both.

http://lethepressbooks.com/gay.htm#sims-the-phoenix

Amazon: The Phoenix

Amazon Kindle: The Phoenix

Ruth Sims's In the Spotlight post: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/754133.html

Downed Fences by Kate Roman

I had already had the chance to find out that Kate Roman’s style is to make “ordinary” some extraordinary stories, like writing an almost homemade love story among a vet and a werewolf, and with Downed Fences she did it again. Part of the Spurs & Saddles series at Torquere Books, it would have been easy to make it “homemade” setting the story in a ranch or in the rodeo circuit, settings that already have us used to being not “fashionable” and “shining”. But instead she chooses the show jumping circuit, that already in the name makes you think to ribbon and stables smelling like flowers other than sweat (and also something else). There is a lot of money behind this sport, but it’s not money in your face, like the prize for a rodeo, but more in business agreements and other bartering happening more in offices than along a trail.

Cody is one of those jumpers, not only he is also the son of an owner, so apparently he has everything easy, best horses, best trainers… but Cody has a gentle hand and even a gentler heart and he misguided interest for love; he is in an abusive relationship with his trainer, a man who hardly makes difference between training him and an horse, Cody is nothing more than something else to “schooling” and I’m not mistaking in using “something” instead of someone, Gary is not considering Cody with the respect you have for a lover.

After years of this treatment, Cody is scared and skittish, like a mistreated horse, and only a very gentle hand can convince him to trust again the “rein” of another rider (yes, I know, there is a big pun here, and it’s entirely intended). Troy is another jumper, but also a trainer, with not enough money to own his horses, but with all the love for the animals and the sport to being a good man. Maybe he will never be rich, but he is for sure happier than Cody.

Not really knowing that it’s the right way to approach Cody, Troy deals with him like he would do with a scared horse: letting him know that he will be safe with him, but not forcing him to accept a new saddle; tempting him with treats, gentle strokes and plenty of freedom. Cody, who has not experiment kindness in years, is fully taken from the first moment.

Downed Fences is a nice novella, not really full of events or highly dramatic, but with enough emotional level to make the reader feel for Cody and being happy for Troy, who apparently has found his perfect match.

http://www.torquerebooks.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&manufacturers_id=264&products_id=2630

Amazon Kindle: Downed Fences

Reading List:

http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading list&view=elisa.rolle

Downed Fences by Kate Roman

I had already had the chance to find out that Kate Roman’s style is to make “ordinary” some extraordinary stories, like writing an almost homemade love story among a vet and a werewolf, and with Downed Fences she did it again. Part of the Spurs & Saddles series at Torquere Books, it would have been easy to make it “homemade” setting the story in a ranch or in the rodeo circuit, settings that already have us used to being not “fashionable” and “shining”. But instead she chooses the show jumping circuit, that already in the name makes you think to ribbon and stables smelling like flowers other than sweat (and also something else). There is a lot of money behind this sport, but it’s not money in your face, like the prize for a rodeo, but more in business agreements and other bartering happening more in offices than along a trail.

Cody is one of those jumpers, not only he is also the son of an owner, so apparently he has everything easy, best horses, best trainers… but Cody has a gentle hand and even a gentler heart and he misguided interest for love; he is in an abusive relationship with his trainer, a man who hardly makes difference between training him and an horse, Cody is nothing more than something else to “schooling” and I’m not mistaking in using “something” instead of someone, Gary is not considering Cody with the respect you have for a lover.

After years of this treatment, Cody is scared and skittish, like a mistreated horse, and only a very gentle hand can convince him to trust again the “rein” of another rider (yes, I know, there is a big pun here, and it’s entirely intended). Troy is another jumper, but also a trainer, with not enough money to own his horses, but with all the love for the animals and the sport to being a good man. Maybe he will never be rich, but he is for sure happier than Cody.

Not really knowing that it’s the right way to approach Cody, Troy deals with him like he would do with a scared horse: letting him know that he will be safe with him, but not forcing him to accept a new saddle; tempting him with treats, gentle strokes and plenty of freedom. Cody, who has not experiment kindness in years, is fully taken from the first moment.

Downed Fences is a nice novella, not really full of events or highly dramatic, but with enough emotional level to make the reader feel for Cody and being happy for Troy, who apparently has found his perfect match.

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Amazon Kindle: Downed Fences

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They are not Argentinian, but the Tango is ;-)

Crossposted from: http://boyculture.typepad.com/boy_culture/2010/07/it-takes-two.html

Well, I'm not sure that is really Tango, and sincerely I prefer the sensuality of the classic tango, but they are young and happy, and that is enough!

They are not Argentinian, but the Tango is ;-)

Crossposted from: http://boyculture.typepad.com/boy_culture/2010/07/it-takes-two.html

Well, I'm not sure that is really Tango, and sincerely I prefer the sensuality of the classic tango, but they are young and happy, and that is enough!