OCTOBER 2011 M/M ROMANCE NEWSLETTER
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Welcome to our newsletter. We hope the content on this page is both informative and entertaining. We welcome feedback; you can send it to the Newsletter Editor. Also, please visit the Dreamspinner Press blog! Follow the blog to see author posts, book excerpts, contests, and other news from the press about M/M romance. Enjoy!
Ariel Tachna, Social Networking Coordinator, Dreamspinner Press
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INTRODUCING ITINERIS PRESS |
Itineris Press is an imprint of Dreamspinner Press that publishes faith-based GLBT fiction that is diverse in race, religion and style. Itineris means journey, and we are looking for stories that focus on the journey—not just the destination.
We are looking for novel and novella length contemporary fiction (15,000 words and up) with gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, and transgendered main characters. The stories can contain romance, adventure and mystery, but the absolute focus must be the positive change that comes from the spiritual growth of the main character.
Currently we are not accepting: historical, science fiction, fantasy, or supernatural (even angels). The exception would be a human character experiencing something like an angelic vision or spirit quest that has a positive impact on their life. The growth in faith can involve any religion or no organized religion at all. The Higher Power of the 12-step programs, Jewish, Muslim, Wiccan, or a spiritual epiphany experienced on a ten day hike through the mountains are all possible paths. We are looking for books that explore the development of inner peace, personal acceptance and unconditional love through faith.
The ItinerisPress.com website is under construction. Inquiries, submissions and review requests can be directed to info@itinerispress.com.
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CALL FOR PROOFREADERS |
Dreamspinner Press is accepting expressions of interest for proofreaders to process M/M romance publications in lengths from 5,000 to 150,000 words. Proofreaders should be able to read for misspellings, punctuation errors, typos, logic problems, and formatting errors. Dreamspinner Press edits to The Chicago Manual of Style conventions. While experience writing, editing, proofreading, and/or using CMOS is preferred, it is not required.
Proofreading is an unpaid contractor position. Contractors will receive proof galleys at no charge and a discount at the company store in exchange for quality services. Deadlines are set according to length of the work, ranging from five to ten days. Proofreaders are not at any time obligated to accept an assignment.
Interested persons will be asked to take a skills test for evaluation purposes and must sign a confidentiality agreement if offered the opportunity to proofread.
For more information, e-mail submissions@dreamspinnerpress.com. Please include “CONTRACTOR” in the subject line of your e-mail for proper consideration. Please include a summary of any applicable experience and/or a resume/CV.
Expressions of interest will be accepted for a limited time, depending on response.
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NOW SEEKING TRANSLATORS |
Dreamspinner is seeking translators to translate selected titles into French, Spanish, German, and Italian. If you are a native speaker of one of those languages and would like more details, contact translations@dreamspinnerpress.com.
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AUTHOR INTERVIEW |
Why did you decide to write romance stories?
Actually, I didn't. I decided to get a Master's degree in Creative Writing so I could get a raise as a teacher. (Getting my administrative degree was right out!) I got about halfway there and dropped out because I hated leaving my kids two days a week, but I didn't stop writing. My focus was going to be fantasy—and all my self-pubbed books ARE fantasy or urban contemporary fantasy. The problem is, there was an awful lot of smex in my fantasy, and nobody knew where to put that. Not having a niche is not having a publisher, really—and since I couldn't seem to stay away from the romance—or the smex—writing m/m was a natural extension of what I was writing anyway. (And it's sort of addictive. Seriously.)
You've written both very short short stories and very long novels. How do you decide what length a story merits?
I don't. The story I'm telling does. If I'm telling the story about a really intense moment—like, say, "Gambling Men", it's all about the moment, and the details and the backstory have to be lean and sparing, or the moment is lost in the the weight of all the moments that led up to it.
If you're writing about an intense personal situation, like, say, Keeping Promise Rock, that's a case of a lot of moments, small and large, leading to a large defining moment, and as long as that defining moment is kept in the focus, ("I'm not okay") then the story that leads up to it is as long as the depth of the emotions warrants. (So, like, KPR was pretty long, and so was Making Promises.)
If you're writing a book about an intense personal and political situation... well, you end up with Bitter Moons I & II—that's 500K of blood and angst, and I still worry that I didn't spend enough time telling that story. (Blood and angst takes a lot of words. Trust me. I know.)
How were you introduced to M/M fiction?
Oddly enough, it was my own imagination that did it. I was continuing a short story I wrote for the Master's Program (called "Vulnerable") at about the time Prop 25 was being defeated in California. (This was the Proposition that SHOULD have made Prop 8 illegal to even put on the books. I hate politics sometimes. Really hates 'em.) So I was walking around my neighborhood, thinking about my story, and getting upset because I knew that love was not always nice and pretty in a pink and blue box, and it seemed so obvious! And then I went to write my little vampire romance (which was released two years before Twilight, thank you!) and suddenly my hero seemed to have as much chemistry with his male leader as he did with his female love interest. The result was the 150 year romance between Adrian and Green—and a fascination with the idea of two strong men struggling with the emotional and communicative limitations that come with being men in our society. I haven't lost my interest in this—in fact, it's become one of my favorite things to write about.
What are five of your favorite books/series?
The Harry Dresden Files by Jim Butcher, the Ty/Zane books by Madeleine Urban and Abigail Roux (these two writers were my very very first m/m authors—thanks, guys!), the first two books of the Danny Valentine series by Lilith Saintcrow, The Hallows series by Kim Harrison, and absolutely anything written by Robin McKinley.
Why did you decide to try to publish your stories?
There is a real satisfaction—something true and ringing and inescapable--about having somebody say, "Your characters feel like family." Writing something that moves a person is an ultimately powerful experience—and when you do that well, and when people tell you that what you made them feel is positive, or that it made them think or feel something they'd never imagined before—that feels like you're changing the world for the better. Isn't that what everyone wants to do with their lives? Make a better world?
Yeah. Me too
Amy Lane is a mother of four and a compulsive knitter who writes because she can’t silence the voices in her head. She adores cats, knitting socks, and hawt menz, and she dislikes moths, cat boxes, and knuckle-headed macspazzmatrons. Visit Amy's web site at http://www.greenshill.com. You can e-mail her at amylane@greenshill.com.
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Win an eBook copy of your choice of one of this author's works. Clues are available in author bios on our web site.
This author participates in role playing events and can be found running around in costume during at least one Renaissance festival and one fantasy convention a year. Her first novel, set at a fantasy convention, comes out in October.
E-mail the Newsletter Editor with your answer. A winner will be chosen randomly from the correct answers. Contest ends the last day of the month.
The correct answers to last month's question: This author's muse has OCD tendences. She has also written one of our most popular vampire trilogies. Marguerite Labbe
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It was cool and dark inside the studio, a stark contrast to the sun-dappled lake just out the back door. Zach had pushed to meet out at the end of the dock, with a string bag of beers just below the surface of the cool water, but Cody had insisted on the studio.
"It started in here, and we'll finish it in here," he'd said.
Zach smiled as he sat on his favorite stool and picked up his guitar. Cody had a deep-seated sentimental streak, and while on the surface Zach liked to poke fun at him over it, deep down he knew that the sentimental streak was one of the myriad things that held them together.
For more than twenty years Zach and Cody's lives had been intertwined. As teenagers they had hooked up when Zach noticed Cody's Pee Chee folder was covered with the names of all the same bands he liked. It was the natural next step for them to start playing together, in and out of bands until the fateful day they met Duke, and their musical future had been set. The success their band had was tempered by the arguments that went with the territory of spending so much time together. Eventually, Zach had declared he couldn't continue, and he'd quit the band. Cody was more even keeled, and he had continued on. Both of them had known, however, that just one spark would explode the powder keg. Last week, that spark had appeared when Duke spouted off another in a never-ending string of homophobic epithets. These slurs were always followed up with a patented "I ain't talkin' 'bout you and Zach," but every man has his limits.
With a heavy sigh, Zach pulled his long hair up, looped it around his fist, and settled it behind his back. He bent forward over the guitar in his lap and began to play in free-form fashion. He had offered to go with Cody when he told Duke that he was quitting the band, but Cody had wanted to do it on his own terms. Zach knew it was hard for Cody, and that he liked the status quo, but secretly he was looking forward to this new direction their lives would take them. Out from under someone else's vision they were free to make their own sweet music together. A shiver chased down his spine at the double entendre, and a hunk of his hair fell across his face. With any luck, Cody would be home soon.
Cody slipped his shoes off outside the studio's door. It was always his intention to sneak in on Zach and take him by surprise. He smiled ruefully as he carefully turned the door handle, knowing it wouldn't happen this time either. There was a bond between them, and Zach always seemed to sense Cody before he was actually there.
Fortune was on Cody's side, and he was given a few moments to drink in the vision of Zach lost in the music. As the music moved Zach, his hair unraveled from the loose knot and began to fall about his shoulders. With any luck, Cody thought, soon that hair would be tickling his rib-cage from above.
Cody was halfway across the room when Zach sat up straight. Although he didn't fully stop playing, the intensity left the music slightly, and he turned just as Cody eased down on a stool behind him. He arched a brow, his brown eyes full of questions.
"It's done," Cody said, and he pushed his stool closer, looping his arms around Zach from behind. With his cheek pressed against Zach's broad shoulder, he continued, "Bastard didn't even blink when I told him I was calling it quits."
Letting the song come to a natural finish, Zach turned and pressed his lips against Cody's cheek. "Did you expect him to?"
"Nah," Cody said, "just feels like, I don't know, like it went out with a whimper."
Zach leaned forward long enough to set his guitar in the stand, and then he turned and gathered Cody into his arms. Tucking Cody's head down below his chin, he murmured, "Twenty years is a long time, babe, ain't no two ways about it. I'm just..." he paused and then said, "looking forward to what comes next."
"Does it involve you taking me home to bed?" Cody mumbled.
"Of course," Zach said as he disentangled himself and sat back, "but you know I was referring to our musical future."
A smile crept across Cody's face and he dipped his head as he said, "I know you were, Zach, but right now what I need is—" He stopped when Zach pressed a finger against his lips.
Sun bouncing off the lake sent watery shadows dancing across the ceiling. Side by side on the bed, fingers intertwined, Zach and Cody took the time to catch their breath. Cody stretched one arm up over his head and rolled on his side to take in Zach's profile.
"I'm looking forward to it," Cody said as he tightened his grip on Zach's hand.
"To what?" Zach murmured.
"Our future," Cody said. "You and me, without the shadow of that prick over us."
"Mmm," Zach said, and he turned on his side and opened his eyes. "I look forward to that," and he released Cody's hand and rolled closer, fitting their bodies together, "and this. All of it, Codes. You 'n' me."
Cody lowered his arm and brushed his hand over Zach's ass. His body filled with desire again, and he wasn't surprised. He could tell by Zach's soft grunt that his body was responding too. He tightened his grip and pulled Zach closer. "I ever tell you how much you mean to me, Zachariah?"
"You ain't told me as much as showed me," Zach said, and he eased closer for a kiss, "and I ain't never got tired of you showing me."
"Good thing."
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WHAT I'M READING Ariel Tachna, Social Media and Review Coordinator |
Love Ahead by Madeleine Urban and Abigail Roux
Under Contract
The last thing Nick Cooper expects is for his boss, construction site foreman Ted Lucas, to insanely declare his love right after he finds out Cooper has asked to be transferred. Intrigued, Cooper offers him one night, figuring the "love" will burn out after sex, but it goes far better than either expect. Lucas's chance comes when an accident leaves Cooper stuck and hurting at home. Lucas does his best to take care of him while hoping Cooper will fall in love with him in return, and Cooper discovers the idea of having Lucas in his life isn't that crazy after all.
Over the Road
Truck driver Elliot Cochran meets "McLean" while talking on the CB and strikes up an unusual friendship comprised of short telephoned rants and long overnight discussions. One evening, McLean tells Elliot he needs to lighten up and go find some companionship, and so Elliot meets Jimmy Vaughan—and has one of the best nights in his life. Before long Elliot faces a decision about sharing his life and building a future: Does he choose to love McLean, the best friend he's never met, or Jimmy, the man who thrills him beyond belief?
Ariel's thoughts: Some books are great. You read them once. You really enjoy them. You even make the effort to give them a good review somewhere. Then you put them down and move on to the next book and forget about them. Other books stay with you. You keep thinking about them. You go back and pick them up again because some little detail resonates with you. You know you remember what happens, but you're sure you've missed something and when you read them again, you're right. There's another layer, a detail you missed, something that makes that great book even better. For me, the two stories in Love Ahead are like that. I've read them dozens of times. I love them both. And each time I read them, I see something I hadn't seen before, something that makes me love them even more. - Ariel Tachna, Social Media Coordinator
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Rarer than Rubies
By EM Lynley
"...all the novel has the fast pace and the vivid images of a movie script, and of course the foreign setting helps a lot. Trent has the chance to test his limits, above all the fear for the unknown he is experimenting since the death of his previous partner: like to exorcize this death, instead of falling in love for a coach potato man, someone sound and safe, Trent will fall head over heels for Reed, a mix of bad spy and good villain (and yes, the mixing in the adjectives is intended). Truth be told, Reed is not so dangerous as he appears, and between the two, he is probably the one who would prefer to enjoy the life without too much committment, but that is not possible, because, like in an old fashioned romance, Trent is not the type you could have a no strings attached affair, he is all or nothing, and to "taste" the forbidden fruit, Reed is willing to renounce to his rakish life of before."
Elisa at Live Journal
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NEWS |
The following books will have a limited number of signed copies available on a first come, first served basis: Quinn's Need by SJD Peterson, Roots and Wings by D.W. Marchwell, Honored Vow by Mary Calmes, and Infected: Freefall by Andrea Speed.
The following authors will host Meet the Author events at Dreamspinner Press's Goodreads group next month. All Meet the Author events are from 1 to 6 pm EST unless otherwise noted:
Nessa L. Warin - Nov. 5
Theo Fenraven - Nov. 12
Sarah Madison and S.A. Garcia - Nov. 19, 12-6pm EST
E E Montgomery - Nov. 26, 7 am - 12 pm EST
Talia Carmichael - Nov. 26, 1-6 pm EST
CALLS FOR SUBMISSIONS
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In order to give all our potential authors the best service and attention, Dreamspinner Press no longer accepts simultaneous submissions.
See the Open Calls for Submissions page for further details.
Limited Calls for 2011 and 2012
Two Tickets to Paradise
Edited by Anne Regan
A vacation is exactly what these men need to find love in their lives. It may be about looking for a little fun, gaining a fresh perspective after a breakup, or building up the nerve to take the plunge. Whether they travel by plane, train, or automobile, none of them want to go it alone. They're hoping romance will be the ticket to finding paradise in another man's arms.
Submission Deadline: Dec. 1, 2011
Men of Steel
Edited by Julianne Bentley
Shazam! Who better to safeguard a man’s heart than a hero? Mr. Fantastic may be out there on a wing and a prayer, playing a Longshot, but a handsome He-Man has the power, courage, and derring-do to see his quest for true love through to the happy ending. For romance of superhero proportions, check out these Men of Steel.
Editor’s Note: Classic superhero themes in contemporary settings encouraged.
Submission Deadline: January 16, 2012
Time Is Eternity
2012 Daily Dose
Edited by Lynn West
“Time is too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for those who rejoice, but for those who love, time is eternity.”
-Henry Van Dyke
Millennia, centuries, decades, years, months, days, hours, minutes, seconds... if it’s a love for the ages, then past, present, or future has no meaning. In these stories, time travel—forward or backward, for an instant or for a lifetime—is the way to fulfilling romance.
Editor’s Note: Contemporary and Historical settings only. No Bittersweet Dreams. Because of the packaged nature of the set, all stories need to stand alone. No sequels to or spin-offs of previously published works, please.
Submission Deadline: March 1, 2012
Animal Magnetism
Edited by Anne Regan
Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! Whether it's a dog, cat, horse, snake, hamster, bird, ferret, goldfish, or something more exotic, owning a pet or working with animals has been proven to make people happier. In these stories, animals of all sorts should serve as the catalyst for bringing lovers together. Bonus points for working unusual or exotic animals into the story.
Editor’s Note: No paranormal, no bestiality.
Submission Deadline: May 21, 2012
Don’t Try This at Home
Edited by Julianne Bentley
Bonked heads. Rough carpet. Burned dinner. Awkward silence. Bitten lips. Startling length. Spilled wax. Pinched fingers. Shattered wineglass. Closet quickie. Flat souffle. Broken bedframe. Shower sex. Overzealous spanking. Embarrassing ex. Lost wallet. Terrible taste. Sore shoulders. Noxious odor. Absent date. Unbelievable girth. Kitchen canoodling. New toy. Stained sheets. Backward compliment. Stifling pillow. Locked handcuffs. Aching ass. Missing keys. Torn seams. Wrenched back. Angry cat. Overeager pass. Uncooperative zipper.
Something always goes wrong in real life. Fortunately, love blunts the edges so that romance trumps adversity.
Editor’s Note: Humor a plus, no rape/nonconsensual situations, contemporary genre only.
Submission Deadline: July 16, 2012
Evergreen
2012 Advent Calendar - A Story a Day in the Month of December
Edited by Lynn West
When it comes to romance, ageless images are carried forever in your heart: A candle in the window burning bright. Warmth billowing from an old stone hearth. Snowflakes falling from the night sky under a full moon. Twinkle lights glinting in a lover’s eyes. Romance during the winter holidays is evergreen, and these stories will get you in the mood for love. Your Christmas present to yourself!
Editor's Note: Because of the packaged nature of the set, all stories need to stand alone. No sequels to or spin-offs of previously published works, please.
Submission Deadline: Sept. 1, 2012
Snow on the Roof
Edited by Anne Regan
"Just because there's snow on the roof, doesn't mean the fire's gone out in the furnace." There's something to be said for maturity and experience, and in all of these relationships, at least one of the lovers is over forty. Whether it's a May/December romance, a second chance at love, or finding a soul mate later in life, these stories prove that it's never too late for love.
Editor’s Note: At least one of the couple must be age 40+.
Submission Deadline: Nov. 19, 2012
Continuous Call
Dreamspinner Press is accepting submissions for our in-house genre Timeless Dreams, romantic M/M historical fiction with happy endings. While reaction to same-sex relationships throughout time and across cultures has not always been positive, these stories celebrate M/M love in a manner that may address, minimize, or ignore historical stigma. You can visit the rough and tumble Old West, travel the ancient kingdoms of desert sheikhs, see the black and red lacquer of the Far East, or dance in dramatic Regency England. No matter where or when, in the romantic worlds of Timeless Dreams, our heroes always live happily ever after.
Manuscripts of any story length may be submitted. You must follow general submission guidelines for short stories for proper consideration. Please list "Timeless Dreams" in the subject line of your submission.
Dreamspinner Press is accepting submissions for our in-house genre, Bittersweet Dreams, stories of M/M romance with nontraditional endings. It's an unfortunate truth: love doesn't always conquer all. Regardless of its strength, sometimes fate intervenes, tragedy strikes, or forces conspire against it. These stories of romance do not offer a traditional happy ending, but the strong and enduring love will still touch your heart and maybe move you to tears.
Manuscripts of any story length may be submitted. You must follow general submission guidelines for short stories for proper consideration. Please list "Bittersweet Dreams" in the subject line of your submission.
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DREAMSPINNER PRESS |
Launched in May 2007, Dreamspinner Press offers quiet romance, supernatural passion, out-of-this-world lovers, kinky explorations, and heated dreams—a little taste to whet your appetite for romantic homoerotica. We hope you take a little time to be enchanted, romanced, and loved by enjoying the publications of Dreamspinner Press.
We appreciate your patronage! If you have feedback, please e-mail to contact@dreamspinnerpress.com or mail to Dreamspinner Press, 4760 Preston Road, Suite 244-149, Frisco, TX 75034, USA. Thank you!
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