~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~it's all about the love~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Monday, December 26, 2011

"Finally Home" is finally out!

I had a message this afternoon from the lovely T.A. Chase who informed me that Finally Home was out a day early. I was so excited but at the same time nervous. It was so awesome seeing it on the webpage for people to actually buy - that was the exciting part. The nervous part - and I'm told this is common - was that a) no one would buy it and b) no one would like it. But for now I guess I'll just let myself revel in the excitement. :D

In other news, Christmas was good - tiring and over-stimulating for us hermits but good nonetheless. And today was an extra special day as well, since this evening I finished the first draft of my Private Dicks story. It's 15,000 words - right smack in the middle of the word count parameters for the sub call - and I really love my characters, Jade and Mason. Now it's onto the editing (my own), the beta-ing (someone else) and finally, submitting it so see if it makes the cut. :) Next up are two Valentine's stories.

Happy Holidays everyone. :)

And um... yeah, here's the link for Finally Home at MLR and at Amazon.


Friday, December 23, 2011

K-lee Klein interview and give-away


~~Okay, here we go!!!~~

Hi, I'm Blaine D. Arden, and I'll be taking over the interview room for today, because after hosting and interviewing all these wonderful authors on her site, it's time for K-Lee to answer some questions herself.

First of all, thanks K-Lee for letting me torture you on your own site**

Thank you, Blaine, and welcome to my blog. I look forward to what torture you have in store for me, and I promise I won’t cry. J

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Happy 3 day before Christmas!

Happy 3 days before Christmas! I hope you all have your shopping and wrapping done - me, not so much. I also hope you've enjoyed the amazing authors I rounded up to entertain you over the past couple of weeks. Alas, all good things must come to an end though (and some of us have to finish our shopping). BUT if you tune in tomorrow, I'll have a special (pseudo-special perhaps) interview. Oh and did I mention that my book comes out in 5 days??!! *squees and bounces*
See y'all tomorrow.
PS if you have any questions you might like this *coughs* author to answer tomorrow, leave them in a comment. (and yes, it is me)


*keep your panties on, I'll be back tomorrow*


Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Author Jeff Erno interview and give-away


My last guest on my interview/give-away theme is Jeff Erno (except for perhaps a surprise interview). Jeff has written 10+ books and has quickly become a m/m readers’ favorite with his ability to push the boundaries in his stories, as well as bringing out strong emotionality in both his characters and readers. Jeff has a new book, Second Chances, coming out on January 1, 2012.

Welcome, Jeff. I hope you find my questions both stimulating and interesting, and have a little fun at the same time. 
J


Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Author James Buchanan interview and give-away


I’m very excited to welcome James Buchanan to my blog today. James is the author of a whole ton of m/m books and was also one of the first authors I read in the genre. Witty, hot and totally sexy is how I would describe James’ characters (especially the lovely goth boy that I won’t mention here :P). James has a holiday story, Light Me Up, coming out with MLR Press on December 29.

Welcome, James. I hope you find my questions both interesting and stimulating. 
J

Monday, December 19, 2011

Author S.J. Frost interview and give-away



My blog guest today has written a couple of my favorite series ever and has been very inspirational to me in the rockstar genre, as well as being one of the key factors in my road to my first publication. S.J. Frost has written 5 books in the Conquest series (❤), 2 in the Instincts series and a variety of other stories. She has a holiday release coming out on Christmas Day with MLR Press – Beautiful Harmony – that I’m really excited about but I’ll let her tell you why. J

Welcome, S.J.! I’m very happy to have you here. Are you ready to be grilled? 
J

Hey, K-lee! Thank you so much for having me here! I’m totally ready to chat and have a good time!

1.     How did you get started

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Author Christopher Koehler interview and give-away



Please welcome the witty Christopher Koehler to my blog today. Christopher is an avid rower, a stressed-out parent (aren’t we all??) and the author of 3 m/m romance books. His latest book, a holiday story called The Advent Calendar, came out a couple weeks ago at MLR Press.

Welcome Christopher! I’m very happy to have you here. Are you ready for your grilling? J

Bring it!

J


Saturday, December 17, 2011

Author Missy Welsh interview and give-away


My guest today is the bubbly Missy Welsh who in real life is just that… bubbly. We met at Gay Rom Lit and I was enthralled with her wit and sarcasm and all-around adorableness. Missy has a new holiday release, Every Time a Bell Rings, from MLR Press coming out on December 23.

Welcome, Missy. I’ve missed your smile and our lunches. J  How is your Christmas shopping coming?

Hi, K-lee! :) I’ve missed you too! I’m actually finished with the Christmas shopping and went to wrap today only to discover that I have absolutely no Christmas wrapping paper! So now I have to shop for that.

Friday, December 16, 2011

Author J.P. Bowie interview and 4 give-aways


My guest today became my self-appointed mentor at Gay Rom Lit. I snagged him on the boat cruise and made him talk to me for over an hour. J  J.P. Bowie is as wonderful in person as his characters are in his books. He has two new releases at the moment, Christmas Wishes that came out November 30, and He Ain’t Heavy that came out shortly after – both from MLR Press.

Welcome, JP. I promise not to fangirl over you like I did at Gay Rom Lit but I am still waiting for that Warrior Prince t-shirt you promised me. (I made that up but we’ll see if he takes the bait – gosh I love that book) J.P. also wanted me to include his pic – so here it is. -->

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Author Kaje Harper interview and give-away


I’m happy to welcome Kaje Harper to my blog today. She’s a relative newcomer to the m/m genre but has already made quite a name for herself with some fantastic reads. Kaje has a holiday story, Where the Heart Is, coming out from MLR Press on December 30.

Welcome, Kaje! Thank you for coming by. I hope you find my questions stimulating.  J




Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Author Z.A. Maxfield interview and give-away

I’m excited to have the sweetheart of the m/m romance genre with me today. Z.A. Maxfield has to be one of the most beloved of the m/m authors and having had the pleasure of meeting her and even having lunch with her at Gay Rom Lit, I can tell you that she deserves to be called those things and more.  She has a holiday story out at MLR Press right now called A Picture Perfect Holiday.


Welcome! I’m so excited to have you here, ZAM. Oh, can I call you ZAM?

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Author Megan Derr interview and give-away


My guest today is Megan Derr, fabulous author of m/m romance books, co-owner of Less Than Three Press LLC and winner of the most awesome Twitter-er award (not really but she is awesome). Megan has a holiday story coming out on December 21 called The Christmas Package.

Welcome! It’s so awesome that you’re here Megan. Are you ready?

Ready Set Go! It's awesome to be here :D Thank you for having me ^__^

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Author William Neale interview & give-away


I’m very pleased to have William Neale on my blog today. I met William at GayRomLit and he instantly made me feel at ease with his soft, calm voice and warm, sparkling eyes. William had a holiday story, “Christmasing With You,” released at MLR Press on November 20 and it’s a story you have to read with a box of tissues nearby.

Welcome, William. I have to tell you that meeting and speaking with you was a definite high point for me in New Orleans. Thank you for making me feel so included. J

Author Amy Lane interview and give-away


I’m thrilled to have Amy Lane as my guest today. I can honestly say I have never read a book of hers that I didn’t like and more often than not, I get way over-the-top invested in her characters (that would be why I formed the Deacon-fangirl-club) because she writes them broken and emotional and with a whole lot of love and hope. Amy has two holiday releases this year both from Dreamspinner; The Winter Courtship Rituals of Fur-bearing Critters (cutest cover ever!) already out now, and Puppy, Car and Snow on December 21.

Welcome, Amy. Please excuse me if I fangirl a little too much. J  So are you ready for Christmas? Have you exhausted your knitting needles for the holidays?

LOL—actually, I was doing GREAT, until I had, like three emergency baby hats to finish.  It was my fault—I knew those babies were coming…

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Author Ethan Day interview & release day give-away


My lovely guest today is the fabulous Ethan Day in all his witty glory. I was fortunate enough to meet Ethan at Gay Rom Lit and he certainly dazzled me with his wit and sarcasm and beautiful flowing locks. J  He has a holiday story coming out on December 10 (today) with MLR Press called A Summit City Christmas.

Welcome, Mr. Day. First I have to ask you if you ever got your nuts back from Carol Lynne or is that a little TMI to begin the interview?

Wow! That was an awesome intro. I feel so good about me right now, thanks so much, K-lee. I must confess that Carol did return my nuts to me, lol. Naturally – flying down to New Orleans this past October my luggage was over the weight limit. SHOCKING!!! So Carol was kind enough to allow a few of my belongings to stow away in her luggage – my big-ass bag of Butter Toffee Almonds happened to be among those items. I’m completely addicted to them – it’s a sick, sad, co-dependent relationship.

Friday, December 9, 2011

Author interview/give-aways schedule ☺

Thanks so much to everyone that's commented on my blog this week. I think the interviews are going well and I've still got another week of them to share with you. But first since I've got you here under the false pretence of giving you an author schedule - bwahahahahah - I have to do a little pimping of my own (more to come I'm sure).

My first published work comes out December 27 from MLR Press and I have to say I'm pretty proud of it. I fell in instant love with the Josiah in my head and his situation, not to mention that big old heart that he tries so hard to hide. Wyatt is very different from Josiah - his heart is wide open and ready for business and I really love that about him too. For any of you who've read my free story Outfoxed, you'll find this is a very different read. I'd never written a cowboy story before and though it's more of an emotional ride than one on horseback, I hope you all enjoy it.

Fabulous Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka

Fabulous! Fabulous! Fabulous! 
Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka totally rock and what a sweet (hot) couple.

 
David Burtka and NPH "You're the Top" by 1dobiedc

Author Marguerite Labbe interview and release day give-away


My guest today is a fabulous writer who I “almost” met at Gay Rom Lit but fully intend on meeting at least once in the next year. Marguerite Labbe has published 4 solo books and 14 stories with co-author Fae Sutherland. Marguerite’s next solo book, All Bets are Off, comes out on December 9 at Dreamspinner Press.

Welcome, Marguerite. I swear I’m going to collect those twitter hugs we exchange in person some day. J

I still can’t believe we kept missing each other all those days and end up at the airport at the same time and still not see each other.  Next year for sure, we’ll sit at the bar and ogle all the handsome men together.  Thank you so much for having me on your blog.  *Squishes*

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Fist Me This Christmas - NSFW

Um, yeah. I don't think I have to say much else about this. No nudity - just um, words. :P
Courtesy of Tony Buff on twitter by the way.
Don't be offended - the content is all in the title.
:)

12 Gays of Christmas

Apparently this is a couple years old but it's so sweet and catchy. At first I thought they were just doing dance moves but they're actually imitating each of the verses. Yeah, maybe I'm a little slow. I stole it from... well everyone. Enjoy.



PS There's still time to post your comment on Zathyn's interview - I'll make the draw on Friday morning.

Author Zathyn Priest interview and give-away


Please welcome someone very special to my blog today, the one and only Zathyn Priest. I’ve been fortunate to become friends with Zathyn (is that okay to say Zath) over the past year and he’s helped me immensely in my writing and my website, as well as just being very supportive and encouraging. His writing always manages to move me, whether to tears or anger or just plain joy and I’m thrilled to have him here.

Welcome, Zathyn. How’s the weather in Australia? Are you getting some snow shipped in to play with?  I wish!  I despise summer.



Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Author Piper Vaughn release day interview and give-away


I'm very happy to have an author on my blog today that I call a very close friend. I had been exchanging emails and twitters with Piper Vaughn before Gay Rom Lit and meeting her and hanging out in person just solidified how special she was to me. Piper has a Christmas short, Zombie Wonderland, coming out December 7 from Less Than 3 Press.


Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Author T.A. CHASE interview and give-away


I’m thrilled to have one of the first m/m authors I ever read on my blog today. I have a ton of T.A. Chase’s books in print and the rest in e-books, and in a round-about-way, she influenced my Christmas story because the cowboys in her Home series were the first I ever read. I had the pleasure of meeting T.A. at Gay Rom Lit in October and she is absolutely adorable, and sweet to boot. She’s here today to talk about her holiday story, writing and her prolific writing schedule.

Welcome! I’m so excited to have you here, T.A. squees a little

Ah…well thank you so much, K-Lee. It was marvelous to meet you in New Orleans, and I hope to meet you face-to-face again soon. I’m so thrilled you asked to interview me. Also, it makes me smile to hear my Cowboys were inspiration for your Cowboys. :)

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Switching things up - authors galore!


I'm switching things up over the next little while in hopes my blog will become a little more interesting and fun - maybe. I'm going to be doing some author interviews and offering up a few freebies in the process. I'll probably be pimping my own book until you want to scream and delete me, too, but please don't *sad kitteh face* because I'm just new and don't know better. Lol.

So I already have a few fab authors lined up including - T.A. Chase, Z.A. Maxfield, Megan Derr, Kaje Harper, Piper Vaughn, and Ethan Day, and I'm working on getting some more. Is there anyone you'd like to see here on my blog? Let me know and I'll try my hardest. :)

On a personal note, I finally have an appointment with my shrink about changing my meds to make it able for me to function like a real live person and not a drooling zombie because of the chronic fatigue. Keep your fingers crossed for me that it will all work out and I can be normal (well normal for me) again. And if anyone has any cholesterol related advice - foods, easy recipes, etc - I'd really appreciate that help, as well.

Have a good week.

Gratuitous Christmas porn -->

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Beautiful Zoolights and some health issues...

Lights are my favorite thing about Christmas. I like the decorations and music too, but the lights are definitely where it's at for me. Calgary has a thing called Zoolights every year where the whole zoo becomes a sparkly lighted paradise. There are all different kind of scenes and it's truly beautiful. I haven't been in a few years, probably since my kids were small, but I think this year I'd like to go. It's definitely very sappy to say but Christmas lights let some light into my soul and my heart especially when I'm feeling low. I'm posting a few pics of Zoolights (not mine). What's your favorite part of Christmas?






Pretty right? I'm also wanted to talk a bit about my doctor's appointment yesterday. Just need to get it off my chest, hope no one minds but I guess you can always skip this part of the post. It's no secret that I have clinical depression and was hospitalized twice this year - 6 weeks each - for medication changes. The medication I'd been on for over 5 years wasn't effective anymore - probably for over a year and half, and I left it too long to say anything to my doctor so I ended up trying to make the change at home but ended up in hospital anyhow. The first time didn't pan out and I was back in two weeks later for another change. That one took but with a few side effects that I was able to deal with anyhow. The only thing that didn't work its way out was the tiredness and despite switching times and things around, it just got worse.

I had blood tests and was really hoping the problem was my iron levels - something easier to fix than other things, but it wasn't. My doctor and I talked about how I'd had Chronic Fatigue before I went on the med that helped me for so long, something I'd totally forgotten. She suggested going back on the original med since there was enough time in between to try it again and I agreed that would be the best course of action. The only problem is because she's my new doctor and doesn't even have any reports back from when I was in hospital, she wants my psychiatrist to do the changes since he knows me better. I can understand that but as much as I love my shrink and trust him (as far as I'm concerned he saved my life 7 years ago when he diagnosed me with Borderline), he's the hardest man to get ahold of and to track down. He's a great doc but more than a little scatterbrained and absent-minded. 

So now I have to wait and try to figure out if this is even something I want to try. The issue is the Chronic Fatigue will undoubtedly lead to the depression if left untreated because not being able to do things like 4 days a week breeds bad thoughts about myself, is really frustrating and yes, depressing. The other issue is whether the old drug will work again since it stopped working in the first place, or maybe it didn't even stop but my depression just became overwhelming. I liked the old med, it's the only one with an energy boost in it and I never had any side effects from it except possibly migraines but not sure about that one. Whether these two meds can be taken without a break is something I don't know yet and that may be a problem too since I don't do well with having nothing in my system, obviously if I did I wouldn't be on the doses I'm on. Hence that's why they usually hospitalize me to do it. Gonna try it at home but that'll take patience which I'm not so great at, non-judging of myself and giving myself a break while I adjust.

I guess my patience will be tested as I wait for my doc to call me back and then try to convince him that this is the thing that needs to be done for my overall state of sanity. My cholesterol results were pretty bad, my good cholesterol low and my bad cholesterol way too high. This is of concern even more so because of the early-onset stroke that runs in my family - my dad died of stroke at 32 and my uncle had one at about the same age - so what do you do for high cholesterol? You exercise and lose weight - 2 things that when you have major Chronic Fatigue are almost impossible to do - I do try but fail. The other option is more meds but my GP won't consider that until the other med changes are set and completed. So basically I'm in limbo as to what's going to go on and still exhausted as crap. I've also rebooked my sleep study for December because the first one was rejected (not a good thing to tell a Borderline) so will give that another try too. Maybe sorting out my horrible insomnia will helps things as well. All I really want to do is just write and enjoy the process and the fact that soon I'll be a published author but right now I can't even do that.

Enough of the babbling. Have a good day and rest of the week.



Monday, November 28, 2011

I have a WEBSITE!

You can probably tell from the heading that I'm a little excited, and yes, I totally am. I have a real website now, designed by the fabulous Zathyn Priest. I don't actually know how to update it yet - I'm kind of scared to try and screw it up - but for now, it's good to go. Drop by and take a peek. :)

(click on the pretty picture to go there)


Friday, November 25, 2011

So beautiful...


Such a beautiful video. I totally teared up at the end. If more people understood how normal and unintimidating the relationship between two men is, there would be so much less confrontation and homophobia in the world.






(In other news, my website is almost done and it so purty!)

Flashback Friday - Pop Idols of the 70s



I thought for Flashback Friday, I'd go waaaay back this week. Back to the 70's to be more exact when I didn't listen to the pretty boys of hair metal (I was only in elementary school still) but the pretty boys of pop. :) (I have to admit these made me smile pretty hard and that's saying a lot for the couple weeks I've had)




The Partridge Family. I loved David Cassidy (now after seeing him in Celebrity Apprentice, he's kind of a pipsqueak jerk but I still have my memories) and yes, I was alive in 1970 but only for a few years - reruns people. :P One of my fave shows growing up and I just really wanted to become a Partridge.




Bay City Rollers, about 1975-1977 - lovely Scottish lads with their pretty tartan and sexy open shirts. Lol. (FYI, Eric the guitarist with the spiky hair to the right of Les, the singer, was my fave <3)




Shaun Cassidy 1977. He was actually hotter than David (half-brothers) and went on to play Joe Hardy in the Hardy Boys tv series (I read all the books way before then - always a Hardy Boys fan and not Nancy Drew - girls, yucky - not much has changed that way.) Shaun aged much better than David by the way.




Leif Garrett 1977. I'm sure there are an abundance of boys names Leif from these years. He's still around but mostly in rehab shows and things like that. :/ Such pretty hair.




Andy Gibb 1977. The youngest of the Brothers' Gibb - Bee Gees - he died in 1988 at the age of 30 of myocarditis - so sad). He was so beautiful inside and out. I cried when he died and I still miss his pretty face.

Saturday, November 19, 2011

New group and a stunning transition...

That's what I want right there -->
No drama, no hating, no bashing and no accusations.
I'll be honest and say I like groups. I like to feel a part of things and I like to lurk and participate. Groups can make you feel like you're part of something bigger, like you're not alone and flailing out in the interwebz by yourself. I haven't felt that way for a while but I've taken a first step and joined another group.


At the beginning of anything new, there's no way of knowing whether things will be good or bad, will remain calm and welcoming, will stay drama-free but I'm taking the chance and hoping for the best. The new group is also on GoodReads and it's called Rainbow Writers and Readers. It was started by Aleks Voinov as a kind of anti-hate haven. Here's the rules - "this place will be moderated and all kinds of GLBTQQ-phobic or harassing comments will be deleted." Sounds good to me - guess we'll see what happens.


I also want to post about this amazing FTM transition that is old news probably, but something I just discovered. The man's name is Balian Buschbaum and before his transition he was an Olympic-calibre German pole vaulter named Yvonne Buschbaum. He retired because of injury in 2007 and then transitioned after that. He's gorgeous and as far as I'm concerned, amazing.







Friday, November 18, 2011

Some sexy bears for a friend...

A special person in my life is going through some heartbreak right now. We don't live in the same city, the same state or province, or even the same country but my heart is breaking for him. (If you know me, you know I'm a big ball of mushy emotion anyhow) We've never met in person and he's young enough to be my son but none of that negates the fact that I care about him and what happens to him. He's my baby bear and I'm his momma, and I just want him to feel better. I know I can't do that for him but as I told him, his broken heart will eventually heal and will find someone special to love again, and I just want him to know I'm thinking about him and worrying about him.  I'm not entirely sure if he's a bear-lover but I suspect he might be so here's a few pretty pics for him - maybe to take his mind off his pain for even a little while.

*smooches her baby bear*

Can't do any kind of bear post without some Samuel Colt



Angelo Peterson


Photograph extraordinaire Mike Ruiz


Don't know this guy's name but he has some nice cheeks. :P


Not really a "bear" pic but he's sooo cute


And last but definitely not least, Tony Buff -
not a bear but who doesn't love them some Buff


  And if you have Tony Buff, you gotta have some fetish, too - 
Tony and Derek Da Silva