MAY 2012 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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DREAMSPINNER PRESS IS FIVE YEARS OLD |
Dreamspinner Press turns five this month, and with it comes a huge, month-long celebration that includes sales, giveaways, prizes, and more!
Over the course of the month, all our our titles will be discounted according to how long the author has been with us.
May 1-5, we will offer a 40% discount off all books (including in-stock paperbacks) by authors who signed with us during our first year of business: Rhianne Aile, Eric Arvin, Connie Bailey, Alix Bekins, Nicki Bennett, Giselle Ellis, Catt Ford, Shay Kincaid, Marguerite Labbe, Clare London, Dar Mavison, Anais Morten, Chrissy Munder, Zahra Owens, D.G. Parker, Abigail Roux, John Simpson, Fae Sutherland, Ariel Tachna, Madeleine Urban.
May 6-12, we will offer a 35% discount off all books (including in-stock paperbacks)by authors who signed with us during our second year of business. Watch the web site for the list.
May 13-19, we will offer a 30% discount off all books (including in-stock paperbacks)by authors who signed with us during our third year of business. Watch the web site for the list.
May 20-26, we will offer a 25% discount off all books (including in-stock paperbacks)by authors who signed with us during our fourth year of business. Watch the web site for the list.
May 27-31, we will offer a 20% discount off all books (including in-stock paperbacks)by authors who signed with us during our fifth year of business. Watch the web site for the list.
In addition, we have three scheduled giveaways for the month!
One lucky participant in our Time Is Eternity Daily Dose chat at the Literary Nymphs Yahoo! group on May 5 will win a Kindle Fire!
One lucky participant in Jeremy Pack's Meet the Author at Dreamspinner Press's Facebook page on May 19 will win all the eBooks on his or her wishlist!
One lucky customer on our web site during the month of May will win an iPad! Each purchase from midnight EST May 1 to midnight EST May 31 constitutes an entry.
We'll also be doing special flash sales, so keep an eye on the web site for unannounced excitement!
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HARMONY INK PRESS IS NOW OPEN! |
Dreamspinner Press is proud to announce the newest release from our new Young Adult imprint, Harmony Ink. Collide by J. R. Lenk is now available on Amazon!
Being bisexual is cool now—unless you're a boy. Or so it seems to invisible fifteen-year-old Hazard James. But when he falls in with bad apple Jesse Wesley, Hazard is suddenly shoved into the spotlight. Jesse and his friends introduce him to the underworld of teenage life: house parties, hangovers, the advantages of empty homes, and reputation by association. So what if his old friends don't get it? So what if some people love to hate him? Screw gossip and high school's secret rules. There's just something about walking into a room and having all eyes on him when just last year nobody noticed him at all.
For a while Hazard basks in the attention, and before he realizes the depth of the waters he's wading, he and Jesse strike up a "friends with benefits" routine. It could be something more, but what self-respecting teenage boy would admit it? Not Jesse—and so not Hazard, either. Not until it's too late. Hazard and Jesse have collided, and Hazard's life will never be the same.
Interested in submitting to Harmony Ink Press?
Harmony Ink Press is accepting manuscripts for young adult fiction featuring at least one strong LGBT main character who shows significant personal growth through the course of the story. Identifying as LGBT can be part of the growth process depicted in the book. We are looking for stories in all subgenres, featuring primary characters between the ages of 14 and 18 that explore all the facets of young adult life. Sexual content should be appropriate for the characters and the story. Manuscripts may contain any level of sexual content; however, excessive, crude or extremely explicit descriptions will be rejected. Sex between a minor and an adult (whether consensual or abuse) will only be accepted if it is implied, off page, and overcoming the occurrence contributes to the growth of the character in a positive way.
Submission Highlights
LGBT primary character between the ages of 14 and 18 who shows significant personal growth through the course of the story.
Authentic voice, unforgettable characters, and powerful world building (even for contemporary stories).
Novella or novel length (15,000-90,000 words). All manuscripts over 45,000 words will release in print as well as ebook.
Any subgenre is acceptable with a fresh premise.
Submissions inquiries of gay-themed Young Adult fiction can be sent to our Submissions e-mail. Please indicate Young Adult in the subject line so the submission is given to the appropriate editor for review. Follow the standard Guidelines for Submission.
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AUTHOR INTERVIEW |
Why did you decide to write romance stories?
I'm not sure that the things I write can be called 'romance stories'. They're more fantasy stories with romance in them. And I don't think I can say I really decided to write them--they just kind of formed in my head and bashed at the inside of my skull until I gave in and wrote them.
My stories are character-driven in the strictest sense, meaning: the characters do not exist to develop and further the plot; the plot exists to develop and realize the characters. My characters are real people (okay, they're real people in my head--shut up) who give me no choice but to write them. And most of the time, I'm not even sure the characters are eventually going to get together, so whatever romance exists happens because one of them took a little pick-axe to the caudate and right ventral tegmental areas of my brain and said, 'Hey. I want that. Write it for me.' If I ever want to sleep again, I have to listen. (And yes, I looked up an article on neuroscience to answer that question.)
But there is something about M/M romance that appeals to me in a way traditional or het romances never did, both as a reader and a writer. Two men falling in love (or lust, or both) throws a lot of character stereotypes out the window and introduces such interesting dynamics that it's so much fun to write.
What led to the inspiration of your Wolf's-own series?
Yikes. I'm not sure I want to give people too much insight into the way my mind works. It's not always a good place to be. We'll go with the 'See? She's not *that* crazy' version.
A few years ago, I was watching a documentary about the moon, during which they talked about the physics of a multi-moon planetary system. They showed a gorgeous conceptual picture of a fat, round moon flanked by another crescent moon. Immediately, my mind superimposed a silhouette in front of it. A man with a long, long braid stood glaring down from a rooftop, backlit by the moons, and in his hands, he clutched two long knives. I didn't know who he was or what he was doing up there, but the image stayed. Not long after that, I happened upon an article somewhere that referenced the class castes of Untouchables, both in Asian and Indian cultures. Something just clicked 'moons' and 'Untouchable' together in my head, and after much appropriation and tangential associations of cultures and lots of non-facts made up by a wild imagination, Fen emerged, complete with vendetta and backstory. I'd been toying with the idea of a true catalyst as a living being in my last series, but I ended up cutting out all the references because they simply didn't fit that world or those characters. I think the idea was waiting for this one. Malick kind of took it from there. Because that's just what Malick does.
How were you introduced to M/M fiction?
By having a preference for SF/F, really. The idea of 'love without regard to gender' is a common one in speculative fiction. I mean, it only makes sense, right? If you're creating a whole new world, why instill in it the prejudices of this one? If we can assume that there are many more worlds than ours in the universe, and that they have intelligent life, why assume they'd all make the *un*intelligent decision to restrict who can love whom?
What are five of your favorite books/series?
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Persian Boy by Mary Renault
The Miles Vorkosigan series by Lois McMaster Bujold
The Dark Tower series by Stephen King
The Merlin series by Mary Stewart
Why did you decide to try to publish your stories?
Um. Actually, I didn't really decide—I kinda got published by accident.
The truth is that I've been writing since I could write and never really intended to try publishing. (It's really hard to let someone else who doesn't love your characters or your world as much as you do sit in judgment of those characters and that world. I mean really hard.) Writing is work and it's difficult; to invest the necessary time and sweat and emotion in a world, its characters and a relevant plot, and then leave all of that open for the hopefully-love/possibly-hate of strangers, is not an easy thing. I think every single author who's given it a shot deserves five stars simply for showing up. But I digress. Because I do that.
When the most recent economic crunch hit, my husband was laid off for a while and money was tight. Tax time was looming, so I was surfing around, looking for money-saving tax deductions, and stumbled across the fact that if you can prove that you're submitting your writing for potential publication, you can deduct all of your writing expenses from your taxes. So I sent something to a publisher, thinking no way would they take it—too long, too much time spent on characterization (though for me, there is no such thing), not enough gunfights, not enough sex, yadda yadda. I think I only managed to work up the nerve to send it because I was sure the person in charge of the slush pile would take one look at the length and shoot me out a rejection. So when I got the letter asking if I'd be willing to turn it into a trilogy, my first instinct was to back away slowly, waving garlic and forking the Evil Eye. But my husband put me in a headlock and my friends and family piled on and beat me with pillows, and so I decided to channel Gregor Vorbarra: 'Let's see what happens.' So I'm seeing what happens.
Carole lives with her husband and family in Pennsylvania, USA, where she spends her time trying to find time to write. The recipient of various amateur writing awards, several of her short stories have been translated into Spanish, German, Chinese and Polish. Free shorts, sneak peeks at WIPs, and other miscellany can be found at www.carolecummings.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 has a degree in medieval history and loves castles, knights in shining armor, and barbarian warriors with no armor at all.
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 lives in Toronto and loves jazz, Justice League cartoons, coffee, his friends, Gore Vidal, the Forbidden Planet store in London, and his daughter, though not in that order. Jeff Pearce
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"Mom?" Andy sat down at the table across from his
mother. "Mom. You haven't said anything." He couldn't look at her but
settled for watching her pen scratch across the thin brown paper of her
puzzle book.
Finally, she peered at him over the top of her glasses. "What should I say?"
Andy bit his lip and pushed toast crumbs into a tiny pile in front of him. "It's
kind of a big deal. I mean, I thought you would have some opinion."
"Andrew." He looked up just as she reached over and put her hand over
his. "I've known you nine months longer than anyone else. You think I didn't
know this about you?"
"You never said."
Shaking her head and picking up her pen to fill in a few numbers on the
Sudoko puzzle, she sounded a little bit exasperated. "I never said anything
about that atrocious hair cut either, or the crow on your shoulder blade."
"How did you know about that?"
"I'm your mother, Andrew. You think I don't pay attention?"
He caught her looking over her glasses again and couldn't stop a twisted
grin. "I hoped."
"Well, I do, and if you'd asked me about the tattoo, I would have told you
getting it right over the bone like that would hurt like hell."
"How would you know?"
She smiled and turned her attention back to her puzzle.
Andy got up from the table and carefully swept the crumbs up into his palm
to dump them in the sink before leaving. He stopped at the door to watch her
sipping her coffee and doing her puzzle. "Mom?"
"Mmm?"
"I love you."
"I love you too, honey. Hey. When you pack, don't even think about taking
any of my CDs."
"Yeah, yeah."
He smiled and left, taking the stairs to his room two at a time. He didn't have
to pack yet, but he did have to get changed. He was meeting Paul at three to
shop for some essentials. They already had possession of the little house they
were moving into and needed to pick up new locks. Paul insisted he knew
how to install them. Andy had the number of a locksmith in his pocket just
in case.
Right on cue, the doorbell rang and his mother's chair scraped across the tile
floor. A minute later, she offered Paul coffee and a rattling bag of store-
bought cookies. Paul's warm chuckle rolled up the steps and Andy hurriedly
ran a hand through his hair and swung back into the hallway and downstairs.
"There you are." Paul stood and moved toward him, aborted the movement
mid-step to stand awkwardly in the center of the room, his thumbs hooked in
the back pockets of his jeans. He smiled. "Hi."
Andy almost laughed but swept him into a hug instead. For a minute, Paul
stood there before carefully hugging him back.
"All right." He frowned when Andy let him go.
"He told me, Paul." Andy's mother waved to the chairs opposite her at the
table. "Not," she added with one eyebrow raised high and a significant look
at the young man, "that I didn't already know you've been sleeping with my
son for over a year." Paul turned pink and Andy hissed at his mother, but
she only tipped her head in an off-hand way and picked up a cookie. "I
figured he had to come to me in his own time, and he did." She waved her
hand again. "Sit, both of you."
Obedient, the young men pulled out chairs and sat.
"Now." She pointed to a brown paper bag sitting on the table. "What's in
there?"
Paul forgot his discomfort and smiled his big, dimpled smile, making Andy
want to lean over and kiss him. "Look." He unrolled the top of the bag and
reached in. "There was a yard sale down the street. I stopped and found
this." He pulled a lock out of the bag. The heavy brass mechanism rattled as
he set it on the table. "I guess the old guy's moving and getting rid of the
junk from his garage. It was funny." Paul glanced at Andy, his smile
softening. "I told him I was moving into a place with my boyfriend. Thought
I might shock him a bit, but he just smiled and gave it to me. He wouldn't
take any money." Paul pointed to the bit of masking tape with $25.00
scrawled on it in shaky handwriting. "That's a fair price. It's never even been
used, and he still had both keys, but he wouldn't take a cent. He threw in
this."
Paul reached over to grab a rolled tube of papers off the counter. "I don't
know much about architecture."
"I do." Andy took the blueprints and unrolled them. For a minute he studied
the drawings, a wave of excitement slowly spreading through him. "He gave
you these?"
"Yup."
"We're going to build this house some day."
"Why? We have a house."
"But not like this one." Andy carefully rolled the papers back up. "It's so
much like the one you want, Paul. I'm going to build it for you." Andy took
Paul's hand. "Maybe not tomorrow, or anything, but once we graduate and I
get on at the firm full time, I'm going to build this house for you."
He smiled at Paul, only to find a puzzled look on his face. "What's wrong?"
Andy gripped Paul's fingers tighter. "Did I say something wrong?"
"You just said 'some day' like you have no doubt at all."
Andy's excitement ebbed, to be replaced by fear. "I don't. Do you?"
"No!" Paul grabbed for the hand Andy tried to take back. "But I thought..."
He glanced at Andy mother and his voice lowered. "I just thought maybe
you weren't sure. You always seemed to hesitate."
"I'm sure." He didn't much care if his mother raised her eyebrows at them.
He leaned over and kissed Paul. "I'm so very sure."
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NEWS |
The following authors will host Meet the Author events at Dreamspinner Press's Facebook page this month. All Meet the Author events are from 1 to 6 pm EST unless otherwise noted:
May 5 - Sue Brown, May 12 at 4 pm EST - Mary Calmes and Amy Lane, May 19 - Jeremy Pack, May 26 - A.B. Gayle.
The authors of the Time Is Eternity Daily Dose set will host a chat at the Literary Nymphs Yahoo! group on Saturday, May 5. Come by for a chance to find out more about the anthology and maybe to win the Kindle Fire we'll give away to one lucky participant!
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 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 Anne Regan
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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Cop Out
By KC Burn
"Cop Out will lift your heart and leave a lasting impression. Author K.C. Burn skillfully takes readers on a journey of discovery and insight where Kurt stumbles and matures to eventually become the fulfilled man he's meant to be. A tasteful blend of friendship and romance, the characters come to life on the page."
Lisa at Joyfully Reviewied
WHAT I'M READING Ariel Tachna, Social Media Coordinator |
Shades of Gray by Brooke McKinley
Miller Sutton, a by-the-book FBI agent, is starting to see some troubling shades of gray in his black-and-white world. He comes face-to-face with his doubts in the person of Danny Butler, a mid-level drug runner Miller hopes to use to catch a much larger fish: Roberto Hinestroza, a drug lord Miller has pursued for years.
Danny has no interest in being a witness against his boss, both out of a sense of twisted loyalty and because he knows double-crossing Hinestroza is a sure death sentence. But he reluctantly agrees to cooperate, and as he suspects, it doesn't take long for Hinestroza to figure out the betrayal.
Miller is surprised to discover Danny's not the career-criminal lowlife he expected; at the same time, Danny finds himself helplessly attracted to Miller's innate goodness. They barely begin to explore the sparking attraction between them when Hinestroza's hitman tracks them down, and then they're on the run, both for their lives and for any kind of love.
Ariel's thoughts: I have a love/hate relationship with mystery and suspense books. I'm a romance reader. That's why I'm here. So when I pick up a book with a mystery/suspense label, even one that's also a romance, I'm always a little leery. Will the romance be good enough to make me like the mystery part? Will the mystery be distracting from the relationship? Will the author manage to keep me involved through the whole book instead of me skimming or even skipping certain sections? More times than not, the answer to at least one of those questions is no, which is what makes Shades of Gray so impressive a read. Despite being a fully fleshed out mystery with more suspense than you can shake a stick at, the mystery was so integral to the romance and the romance so integral to the mystery that I devoured every single page and was left wanting more. If you've read it already, you know exactly what I'm talking about. If you haven't read it yet, what are you waiting for?—Ariel Tachna, Social Media Coordinator
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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, 382 NE 191st Street #88329, Miami, FL 33179-3899, USA. Thank you!
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