2014 GRL Blog Tour: Taylor V. Donovan

[reviews_and_ramblings]

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 Taylor V. Donovan:

GayRomLit, Fourth Edition

When GRL kicked off in October 2011 I was still learning my way around MM Romancelandia. I’d been reading gay romance almost exclusively for a few years already, and Six Degrees of Lust http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11757362-six-degrees-of-lust was under contract, but it wasn’t until April 2011 that I joined Goodreads. That’s when I really became a part of a specific genre reading community, and it was great. I was able to talk to others about the books I enjoyed for the first time, and I didn’t feel like such an oddball anymore. Needless to say, I was beyond excited when I found out there was an actual conference I could attend.

New Orleans is an amazing city. I’d visited it several times in the past, and always thought there’s something mysterious about it. Mythical… magical… That sense multiplied tenfold by the enthusiasm shared by the Gay Rom Lit attendees. Now, I know I’ll sound redundant but what the heck, I’ll say it anyway. The vibe was like magic in the air.

We all believed love comes in different shapes and forms. We all supported the right of our brothers, cousins, friends, and strangers to be out and proud with the man they love. And we all absolutely adored reading stories that convey hope.

At the time of GRL 2011 I only had one short story published. Heatstroke https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19869033-heatstroke was inspired by a picture and a prompt, and what do you know, readers loved it. But promoting my work was the last thing on my mind. I wanted to hang out and have fun. I wanted to spend time with the friends I’d met online and meet more. And that’s exactly what I did for the first two days. Then I got really sick and spent the rest of the conference in bed. :-(

GRL 2012 was slightly different. By that time I had a few published titles and decided to register as an author. But even though my badge identified me as such, and I participated in and/or hosted a couple of events my main goal remained the same: have fun and hang out with my friends. I had a blast. Albuquerque is my favorite location to date. The hotel was great, the food was great, and the space was great. It was a blast… until I got sick again.

GRL 2013 was the first time I actually did a Q&A as an author. I was all kinds of nervous because, albeit not shy by any stretch of the imagination, I do keep a low profile. I’m a listener rather than a talker and will always be the one person in the room trying to occupy as little space as possible. But I stood in front of the room and answered questions about my characters and stories, and it was amazing. I was still high on the thrill of coming face to face with some of my readers when I got sick. I kid you not. This time had to spend a night in the hospital and everything. They wanted to admit me but I refused. I told the doctor I’d take care of the pesky kidney stones when I got back home.

This will be my fourth year attending Gay Rom Lit. It’s become a tradition. October is the time of the year when I get to see my author colleagues, the ones who have become close friends and are my rocks and partners in crime, and all the readers I’m lucky enough to count as friends. I don’t believe GRL will ever be a promotional event for me. Yes, I’ll bring books and swag, but the one thing I’m really looking forward to is seeing you all. What I’m not looking forward is getting seriously sick again. I admit GRL feels a bit like a blessing and a curse to me. I look forward to it but also dread checking in at the hotel. The moment I settle in my room I start wondering what will go wrong. Hopefully this year will be a breeze. :-)

I’ve come a long way in the past three years. I’ve published more titles and grown as an author, but Heatstroke will always have a special place in my heart. It wasn’t the first story I sold, but it was my first published work, and I can’t tell you how much your support and praise words for it meant to me.

Last year I decided to celebrate what pretty much marks the beginning of my writing career by adding a few scenes to the original story and releasing a print version of Heatstroke: The Extended Edition. This year I’ll have ten copies of it with me to give away at GRL, so, if you’d like to win one, leave a comment sharing your favorite thing about GRL if you’ve already attended, or MM Romancelandia in general if this will be your first time.

I’m looking forward to meeting the winners and personally give them a copy. For those of you who can’t attend, hopefully we’ll see each other next year. It’ll be a blast. :-)

Ta for now!

Taylor

Heatstroke: The Extended Edition by Taylor V. Donovan
Paperback: 120 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; 2 edition (October 14, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1492937738
ISBN-13: 978-1492937739
Amazon: Heatstroke: The Extended Edition
Amazon Kindle: Heatstroke: The Extended Edition

At twenty-one years old, Richard Lewis Bancroft was on the fast track to fame and fortune. An award-winning start on the Broadway stage led him to the silver screens of Hollywood, where his star began to rise, and his heart fell hard for professional baseball sensation, Manuel Guzman. But there was no script for living out loud with the man of his dreams in the world of 1964. Then Richard disappeared without a trace. Forty years later, Michael Spencer discovered a journal in his grandmother's attic that would change his life forever, and quite possibly, solve the mysterious disappearance of Richard Lewis Bancroft.

Bio: Taylor V. Donovan is a compulsive reader and author of gay romance and suspense. She is optimistically cynical about the world; lover of history, museums and all things 80s. She is crazy about fashion, passionate about civil rights and equality for all, and shamelessly indulges in mind-numbing reality television.

When she’s not making a living in the busiest city in the world or telling the stories of gorgeous men hot for one another, Taylor can be found raising her two daughters and their terribly misbehaved furry baby in the mountains she calls home.

For more information please visit www.taylorvdonovan.com

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Unfortunately I've never been to GRL and I know I never will be, but I'm already looking forward to all the pictures and videos.

Heatstroke is one of the best books I've ever read. I just love it.

Verena

vm.1988@gmx.at

Taylor Donovan giveaway

[ardent_ereader]

I'd love to read your extended version of Heatstroke. please count me in for the giveaway. Thanks.

[engarian.livejournal.com]

I was hoping to purchase this as a NookBook (I already own several other books of yours), but apparently it is not available from that bookstore. Do you have plans to make it available in NookBook format?

- Erulisse (one L)