Recently I saw someone ask about people’s perfect read space. As a writer, I spend more time in my writing cave than my reading space. Typically I read on the train, in a waiting room, in bed before I go to sleep. But if I had an actual designated area that invited me to sit down and lose myself in a good book what would it look like? Not surprisingly, I had a few thoughts on the subject. My reading nook should be just that, a small space made for my books and me. Room for a chair, books, a lamp and a small desk in case I get inspired and need to jot down a few plot bunnies. I …

The last seven days have been unsettling to say the least. Starting with the events in Charlottesville, the response by that guy in the White House (all three contradictory and confusing ones), Barcelona and now Finland. I was listening to this song to get in a more positive mood:   Change will only come if enough of us want it and are willing to stand up for it.  What I was willing to ride out when I wasn’t a parent, I need to change now that I’m a parent. I look at my daughter and the carefree way she sees the world and I worry. What will be left when she’s my age? Will there be anything left? There is …

Today I have another promotion with Free Sci-Fi/Fantasy Books to pass along.  This one is offering 38 free books. Click the link below for more info and to browse the books. Midsummber Fantasy Reads Unlike the previous giveaways I’ve been involved with, this uses a new service – BookFunnel.  Unlike the Instafreebie promotions, where you had to sign up with Instafreebie AND the author whose book you wanted, BookFunnel doesn’t ask you to sign up with them. You pick the author whose book you fancy, give that author your email, and you get sent to the download page. Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy. There are some really good books in this mix, so check them out. And look for another promotion …

We break down time in many ways; days, weeks, months, hours minutes, seconds. We lump by seasons,  quarters and halves. There are school, fiscal and calendar years. My ‘next’ year begins on my birthday, which is different from almost everyone I know. So why is it we are expected to announce our yearly plans on January 1? In my hemisphere winter isn’t a great time to resolve to bike, or swim more (unless you have access to a gym and even then, maybe not.) The days are about as short as they get so quality outside time is sparse. There is the post holiday bonanza of new gadgets to play with to disrupt your plans, but still, we engage in this annual …

As many readers of mine know, I’ve a big Sci-fi/Fantasy bias.  Well, Queer Sci-Fi held a flash fiction contest this May and the winners are announced today.  I entered, and didn’t win, but that isn’t important. QSF is going to compile all the entries and create an eBook for sale to help fund QSF and their efforts to bring LGBTQ Sci-Fi/Fantasy to a wider market.  Click the QSF logo below to see the winning entry and after you read it, I hope you’ll sign up for news updates so you’ll know when you can buy the book. 🙂 Queer Sci-Fi  

Rather than only interview other authors, I thought I’d try to mix things up and interview other people in the ‘business.’ Today’s guest is Brandilyn Carpenter, book reviewer and owner of Prism Book Alliance.  I’m very privileged to be able to call her my friend – I mean she walked to hell and back to get my glasses during GRL ’14, that has to make us tight.  Anyway, she agreed to answer a few questions about something all authors are interested in, even if we say we don’t—reviews. Oh yeah, Brandilyn is giving away a $10 ARe Omnibucks to one lucky commenter who answers a question at the end of the interview. Welcome Brandilyn. Thanks for agreeing to answer a few questions today. …

Welcome Lynn.  Thanks for agreeing to answer a few questions today. Coincidentally—or not really since I set the dates for interviews—today is the release of my first novel with DSP Publications. So thank you for believing in me enough to publish my books. Thank you for inviting me, Andrew. It’s a pleasure to have you with us at Dreamspinner Press and DSP Publications.  Tell us a bit about yourself and your work with Dreamspinner Press and DSP Publications. I’ve done a little bit of everything with Dreamspinner Press through the years, being one of the founders. But I settled into my skillset (and comfort zone) by developing, building, and growing the Editorial Department. It’s a never-ending work in progress; I’m …

This was my first GRL and well I might have taken a few too many pictures, but I had a great time and I wanted to share a few (yes, there are way more than these).  The videos didn’t fit in the gallery so I added them at the end.   J.P. Found a new way to draw attention to me. It was. . .interesting to have this happen all the time. 😀 Seeing Amy Lane at the signing, well, we got a bit carried away. If there was a better way to end GRL, I can’t think of what it would be.  

I was asked by my friend and fellow author, Larry Benjamin, to participate in a discussion about sex in MM Fiction. The other authors taking part are WS Long and Hans Hirschi. Debbie McGowan, author, editor and publisher of Beaten Track Publishing agree to act as a moderator. Today is Part II  Below is a snippet from the conversation, but be sure to click on the link to Deb’s site and enter the giveaway at the bottom of the post. We’re giving away 5 ebooks and a $30.00 Amazon gift card.   DM: Welcome back gentlemen. Let’s just dive in and pick up where we left off, shall we? What’s your approach to writing sex?  WSL: The sex scenes should propel the story, involve …

I was asked by my friend and fellow author, Larry Benjamin, to participate in a discussion about sex in MM Fiction. The other authors taking part are WS Long and Hans Hirschi. Debbie McGowan, author, editor and publisher of Beaten Track Publishing agree to act as a moderator.  Below is a snippet from the conversation, but be sure to click on the link to Larry’s site and enter the giveaway at the bottom of the post. We’re giving away 5 ebooks and a $30.00 Amazon gift card.   DM: In your books, do you have on/off page sex? Why? WSL: In my book, Love and Murder, and, in another work in progress, the sex is on the page. I don’t think gay …