James Buchanan (born 17 June)

James Buchanan, lawyer by day and the author of the beloved Taking the Odds Series, the Deputy Joe Novels as well as many stand alone books, lives in a 100 year old Craftsman Home in Pasadena with SexyGuy, two demon spawn and a herd of adopted animals. Between trying cases, raising kids and writing books, James has spoken and read at conferences such as Saints & Sinners and the Popular Culture Association.

In the midst of midlife crisis, James bought and learned to ride a Harley - it went with the big, extended-cab pickup in the driveway. A member of CorpGoth since 1993, James has been known to wear leather frock coats to court.

If you don't find James at the computer working on the next book, you probably won't find the bike in the garage.

The Good Thief by James Buchanan
Paperback: 240 pages
Publisher: MLR Press; 1 edition (April 20, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1934531448
ISBN-13: 978-1934531440
Amazon: The Good Thief
Amazon Kindle: The Good Thief

What if the wrong guy, turns out to be the right guy for you? Caesar Serrano thought he screwed up when he landed in the bed of LAPD Officer Nathan Reilly. But when Caesar breaks into the wrong house and stumbles upon a heinous crime, implicating a high ranking LAPD officer, Nate is the only person he knows to turn to. The resulting investigation throws the Blue Brigade into panic. Now he's running for his life and Nate is his only hope for survival. Can two men, on opposite sides of the law, come together to bring a monster to justice?

More Spotlights at my website: www.elisarolle.com/, My Lists/Gay Novels

2014 Rainbow Awards Submission: Saugatuck Summer

Gay Contemporary Romance
Saugatuck Summer by Amelia C. Gormley
Paperback: 326 pages
Publisher: Riptide Publishing (January 26, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1626491151
ISBN-13: 978-1626491151
Amazon: Saugatuck Summer
Amazon Kindle: Saugatuck Summer

Hi, I’m Topher Carlisle: twenty-one, pretty, and fabulous. At least, that’s what I keep telling myself. But let’s get real. Walking the fake-it-til-you-make-it road to independence and self-respect isn’t easy. Especially since my mom’s a deadbeat alcoholic, and most of my family expects me to turn out just as worthless. Oh, and I’m close to losing my college swimming scholarship, so let’s add “dropout” to the list.

My BFF has invited me to stay at her beach house on the shore of Lake Michigan. That’ll give me one summer to make money and figure out what I want to do with my life. So of course I decide to have an affair with my BFF’s married, closeted dad. Because that always works out.

Now I’m homeless, friendless, jobless. Worthless. Just like my family expects, right? Except there’s this great guy, Jace, who sees it differently. He’s got it all together in ways I can only dream of—he’s hot, creative, insightful, understanding. He seems to think I don’t give myself enough credit. And if I don’t watch out, I may start to believe him.

Charities Donation program progress:
25$ Lancaster LGBT Center: http://www.centralpalgbtcenter.org/
25$ Odyssey Youth Center: www.odysseyyouth.org/
25$ YouthCare: www.youthcare.org/
30$ Covenant: www.covenanthouseno.org/
50$ Wes for Youth: wesforyouth.privacemail.com/
50$ Lambert House: www.lamberthouse.org/
50$ Ruth Ellis Center: http://www.ruthelliscenter.org/
50$ PFLAG: community.pflag.org/
75$ CARE: careprogram.org/
75$ Inland Northwest LGBT Center: www.thelgbtcenter.org/
100$ The Center Colorado: http://www.glbtcolorado.org/
105$ Moveable Feast: http://www.mfeast.org/
160$ UCAN: www.ucanchicago.org/
160$ Lambda Legal: www.lambdalegal.org/
175$ Point Foundation: www.pointfoundation.org/
180$ The Trevor Project: www.thetrevorproject.org/
317$ Galop: www.galop.org.uk/
347$ COLORS: www.colorsyouth.org/
425$ SAGE: giveto.sageusa.org/
437$ Lost-n-Found Youth: www.lost-n-found.org/
710$ Ali Forney Center: www.aliforneycenter.org/
747$ Other Funds
TOTAL: 4318$*

* more than 150$ is a direct donation from a supporter of the Rainbow Awards who isn't submitting; while some authors were more than generous, arriving to donate 5 times the suggested amount, being the submission fee a non mandatory and voluntary direct donation, we were struggling to raise the same amount as last year and there is who decided to cover part of it. I thank you for all you are doing, and if you wish to donate to the above links, please drop me a note with your donation and I will update the total.

2014 Rainbow Awards Guidelines: reviews-and-ramblings.dreamwidth.org/4162490.html

2014 GRL Blog Tour: Lexi Ander

Starting from March up until September I will be part of the 2014 GRL Blog Tour as featured blogger. I will host authors attending the GayRomLit Retreat in Chicago (October 16-19, 2014: gayromlit.com/content/2014-grl-featured-blogger-program). To my guests, I asked to brainstorm around the common theme "inspiration". Today author is Lexi Ander:

Sparks, Brilliant or Dim: Points of Inspiration

Points of inspiration are like stars in the night sky. Sometimes they are clustered together creating this brilliant picture, or one can draw a line to connect that point to another, or it can be faraway dim light in a space all by itself.

Inspiration can come in several forms and many authors find that spark in some of the same things. An arresting photo. Lines of poetry or song. Life experiences. Secret hopes and desires. Conversations. Dreams. Or in something as simple as the frayed end of a coarse rope. There is no right or wrong way to draw inspiration. Two people can look at the same object and withdraw two completely different ideas from what they see. Inspiration can be drawn from sorrow and give back hope.

Inspiration can be endless, fathomless, elusive, or overwhelming. At times, one could either experience feast of famine, where everywhere you look there are sparks that create one idea after another. Then there are days when you stare at the computer screen or notebook for hours with no spark to guide the way. Sometimes, it feels like the tides of an ocean pushing up the shore, rearranging the sand to tell the story of its passage and then the waters withdraw out of reach, denying the shore its cool touch.

I draw inspiration from many of the things listed above, expressions in a drawing or photograph, lines of myth a folklore, reference books on history or cultures, and the frustration of not being able to find the story I want to be told. That last point is what led to the beginning of the Sumeria's Sons series. I wanted the story of a person who defied the all-hallowed mating bond. I'd read too many stories where Alpha meant Jerk, and instead of the mate telling them to go pound sand, the mating bond made things all better, and the alpha was still a jerk. So in a moment of utter frustration, I wrote the first three chapters of Twin Flames. That small spark turned into something big.

Just this past April, at Rainbow Con 2014 I had the privilege of being a part of a conversation with Angel Martinez and David Hawk about coal mining states, history, area culture, and the aftermath of abandoned mines. For days I mulled the topics over and over. I had no idea the discussion would spark the plot to a short science fiction story, The Aurora Conspiracy, which I wrote in May for a submission call.

The Valespian Pact series was sparked by a story prompt. (Honestly, I have a real weak spot for such prompts, it's like an addiction.) "Intergalactic mm romance between a human space mechanic genius and an alien that morphs to be "human" when they mate. Have a way for the "alien" to be able to reproduce despite being male without the aid of technology for the pregnancy itself. Maybe technology was involved in the past and they "evolved" to be able to continue the alien species? HEA of course. Maybe a start of a series? Up to the author. I like series." Then Alpha Trine was born. Although, the spark didn't stop there. It jumped from the name I chose to become a flash fire of world building and plot ideas.

I will admit that when I started writing my first series, I had this fear that I wouldn't find inspiration or ideas for another story to become this one hit wonder in the publishing arena. Not to say that is a bad thing. A couple of my favorite authors, Robert Jordan and Frank Hebert, are well known for the epic series they wrote. See, I wanted to write about scores of different topics, characters, and places, to have a plethora of sand boxes to play in, discover, and experiment with. Not that I had anything to worry about because I have a notebook full of ideas that I continue to add to.

Now, if I could find the time to write our all of those ideas…



About Lexi: Lexi has always been an avid reader, and at a young age started reading (secretly) her mother’s romances (the ones she was told not to touch). She was the only teenager she knew of who would be grounded from reading. Later, with a pencil and a note book, she wrote her own stories and shared them with friends because she loved to see their reactions. A Texas transplant, Lexi now kicks her boots up in the Midwest with her Yankee husband and her eighty-pound puppies named after vacuum cleaners.
Web site: http://www.lexiander.com/index.html
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lexi.ander.9
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/LexiAnder1
Blog: http://lexiander.blogspot.com/
E-mail: lexi.ander.author@gmail.com
GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6521302.Lexi_Ander
Booklikes: http://lexiander9.booklikes.com/
Tumblr: http://lexiander.tumblr.com/

Lexi Ander is offering a signed paperback of Alpha Trine and Striler bundled together to one commenter on this blog. You can comment on LJ or DW if you have an account (I will send a PM to the winner), if you don't have an account, please leave a comment on DW with a contact email. Shipping outside US included.

Alpha Trine by Lexi Ander
Paperback: 200 pages
Publisher: Less Than Three Press (September 25, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1620042444
ISBN-13: 978-1620042441
Amazon: Alpha Trine
Amazon Kindle: Alpha Trine

The sole survivor on a science vessel adrift in deep space, Zeus was adopted by the Emperor and Empress of the Mar'Sani, though he is both human and blind, and seen by most as unfit to join the royal family. Though they were able to repair his vision, Zeus does not trust his eyes and the nobles of his parents' court refuse to ever trust a frail human.

Dargon Kal-Turak, along with his symbiote and lover Alpha, command one of the most dangerous ships in the stars. Narrowly escaping a trap, they dock in a space port to make repairs, but find that the Psionics hunting them are closing in fast. In desperation they kidnap the port Master Mechanic, unaware that the man they've brought on board is more than he seems, and will bring far more upheaval to their ship, their lives, and the stars than any of them could have imagined.

( Excerpt )

Striker (The Valespian Pact Book 2) by Lexi Ander
Paperback: 356 pages
Publisher: Less Than Three Press (June 4, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1620043793
ISBN-13: 978-1620043790
Amazon: Striker (The Valespian Pact Book 2)
Amazon Kindle: Striker (The Valespian Pact Book 2)

The peaceful respite for which Zeus and his intended, Dargon and Alpha, had been hoping for is shattered when Zeus is unexpectedly drawn to the Waters of Poseidon and told that the safety they've been promised is a trap.

But the Fal'Amoric aren't the only important cargo on the Oethra 7, and countless others are depending on the success of their mission. If Zeus hopes to break the silent siege on Valespia and protect those most precious to him, he will need not just powerful allies but the fortitude to survive overwhelming odds.

tMf 12 and May updates to the MaleForm website

For the new issue of tMf, #12, I did again a short interview to one of the photographer featured in it. Dylan allowed me to repost in entirity the interview here, but I strongly suggest you to buy the whole issue, it's awesome as usual. "My" photographer is Antonio, and he is from Spain.



1) Would you like to tell us something about yourself? Where are you from, how old are you, what is your background (meaning are you a trained photographer or self-taught...)?

I think I was born with a camera between my hands. I had my first reflex with 15 years old and it has always been close to me. I came from the north of Spain (37 years old) but I live in Madrid. Regarding my training I studied in EFTI School in Madrid… I remember a sentence from one of my teacher which is amazing: “You need to learn the technique and as soon you have learned it… you need to forget it”. The technique is important but it is more important to say something in each picture.



2) Does your country/culture influence your photography? Is the Mediterrean origin something that you feel as yours?

Of course my culture and my background influences directly in my way of feeling the photography. In my work the use of the light is very important and I think there is not better light that the Spanish light. It is clear that I always prefer a warm pic better than a cold pic… Spain is always in my photography.



3) Is photography your main career? Where do you see yourself in the next future? Are you planning to professionally exhibit or publish your work?

Not now… who knows in the future… Right know I manage my “normal” work with the photography work something which is quite difficult. Day by day you need more time to organize your shootings, paper work trying to publish in magazines, etc, etc. I really would like to have the photography as my main career but I think it is quite impossible right now.



4) How do you select your models? what is that most catches your eyes, your ideal subject for male nudes?

I need to find a correct balance between face and body and the most important issue… the model needs to send a message in each photography. I consider that the photography is a way of sending messages and those message needs to be sent by the photographer which is managing the shoot and of course for the model. An incredible body which can not communicate a clear message is not a good team mate.



5) Usually do you give freedom to your models to move as they like or do you have an ideal "frame" that you try to recreate with them?

I always try to create a good atmosphere in the shooting. When you are able to create that the model can express himself in a better way. Then I try to direct the shoot in a soft way giving enough space to the model to pull out the best he has inside… In any case I always have an “ideal frame” with each model and I try to catch it during the shoot… sometimes I get it, sometimes not… The photography is a travel and a travel is always full of surprises…

Moreover there are also wonderful updates to the website, that for a small fee you can access (be careful, it's HOT)


Luke by Ethan James

( Read more... )