Men of Sports and the 2013 Rainbow Awards

The Rainbow Awards announcements brought it home to me this week that I haven't talked much about my International Men of Sports series with TA Chase that's had books releasing over the past several months. So here goes!

 

I'm thrilled that our second book in the series is a Finalist in the Gay Contemporary Romance category! Chasing the King of the Mountains is set in France during the Tour de France, and we had such a fun time writing it and researching the sport of team cycling.

Here's the blurb:

Pascal might be chasing the title of King of the Mountains, but will he realise in time that Laurent is chasing him?

Pascal Durant, one of the best mountain riders in the cycling world, was about to finally win his first polka-dot jersey denoting him King of the Mountains in the Tour de France. Then he suffered a horrific accident that left him unable to complete the race. In his forties and fighting chronic injuries, he knows he only has one more shot at the top.

Laurent Desrochers, an internationally known reporter, hears about his dear friend’s crash and watches a moving viral video of Pascal, bloodied yet unbowed, congratulating the winner. When Pascal tells him he’s going to do the Tour one last time, Laurent decides to convince his network to let him follow Pascal on his quest.

Friends for a decade, they had never thought of the other as more. Pascal’s focus on his sport and poor taste in men has never produced a long-term relationship. And Laurent’s constant travel causes a rift between him and his fiancé Jan that proves insurmountable.

Laurent finally realises his ideal partner has been in front of him all along. Can he pull Pascal’s focus from his goal long enough for him to know he’s being chased...and let Laurent catch him?

Available at Total-E-Bound, Amazon, ARe and more.

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Our first book in the series was given an Honorable Mention in the Awards. A Sticky Wicket in Bollywood is our India book and tells the story of a cricket player and a Bollywood actor.

Here's that blurb:
 
A handsome Bollywood actor must choose between his career and a rugged cricket player from his past, who he’s fallen in love with…again.

Rajan Malik has the world of Bollywood in the palm of his hand…a beautiful girlfriend, starring roles, adoring fans…He should be happy, but behind the façade lies a man conflicted and exhausted by the pressure placed on him by his ill mother, his agent and society. His life is not his own, and all he wants to do is escape.

Indian Premier League cricketer Ajay Singh can’t believe how bad his university roommate Rajan looks when he spots his picture in the paper. They had parted on bad terms. Still, he’s moved to offer Rajan his support by renewing their friendship.

But friendship was not all they shared back then. Though Ajay is out, Rajan isn’t willing to give up his carefully cultivated Bollywood image to be with him publicly. And with very little privacy, it won’t take long for someone to find out they are more than friends.

Their renewed secret affair is fraught with difficulties as they deal with the death of Rajan’s mother, the secret of Rajan’s till-now absent father, a jealous friend, intrusive social media, and threatening notes from someone who seems to know all about their private lives.

It’s a bit of a sticky wicket they find themselves in. Will it be too late when both men finally realise that they’ll need to compromise, or stand to lose everything?

Available at Total-E-Bound, Amazon, ARe and more!

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Our latest release is set in Germany. At First Touch follows two soccer/football teammates as they are made to realize how right they are for each other if they just open up.

Here's that one:


Excelling at the game he loved was everything to King, until Lukas showed him at first touch how much better his life could be…

Ewansiha 'King' Kroenig is at the pinnacle of his professional football career, even with a problem knee. He keeps his cool and keeps his head down, and that control has served him well. King is bisexual and has been known to date beautiful women, while he also occasionally satisfies his craving for men with the team’s trainer. It’s a good life, but starting with one bizarre and personal request from his ex, Silvia, his orderly life goes spinning out of control.

Lukas has no problem admitting he’s gay, but with a loudly homophobic team captain, he knows better than to go there around the team. He has his whole career ahead of him and is being groomed to take over for their star player, King Kroenig. If he admires King for more than his athletic prowess, what can it hurt?

No harm, no foul…until a certain trainer who knows them both well decides to play matchmaker, then all bets are off. And once they’ve experienced that first taste, they want more. But it’s not as simple as hooking up or dating when you’re teammates, with high profiles and little privacy. And when they each suddenly gain responsibilities they never expected, they must figure out a way to reconcile their personal lives with the expectations of others.

Reader Advisory: This book contains one MMM ménage scene and brief references to offscreen underage sex.


Available at Total-E-Bound, Amazon and ARe.

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Right now we're hard at work on book four, titled Blindsided. In this one we go Down Under and see what happens when you throw together a hunky but lonely rugby player and a popular lifeguard. :) So far, the results have been steaming hot! Blindsided will release towards the end of 2013. More to come when we get cover art and a blurb written! :)

After that...well, we have over a dozen more countries and sports in mind. So as long as we enjoy writing it and you enjoy reading it, we'll continue to serve up the athletic men you love in far-off and unusual settings.

Yes, I Survived the Summer and the Gay Romance NW Meetup

It was no coincidence that my last blog post was right around the time that end-of-the-school-year events really started picking up...and that nothing got posted over the summer. Between the day job, summer travel, keeping the kiddies entertained and the occasional chance to write, I was really stretched. The only thing I really kept up on was FB, and that's only because the mobile app is pretty simple to work from. Blogging from my phone...not so much.

Now that it's getting really close to GRL, I figured I'd better update my website and do a bit of online housekeeping and realized I'd better get photos and stuff posted from my last event before GayRomLit hits with a whole bunch more pictures and posts!

Out to dinner with Rick Reed and his husband Bruce.

I was up in Seattle last weekend for the first Gay Romance Northwest Meetup. It was a one-day conference held at Seattle's beautiful downtown Central Library. Of course, since I got the royal treatment with front door drop-off service from a friend, I didn't manage to get a picture of the library before things got going.

There was a great keynote presentation by one of the librarians. This summer the library system purchased around two hundred GLBT titles for circulation, including books by most of the authors at the meetup. I think I have four there now--very cool! Then we had three well thought out panels with focuses ranging from craft to the publishing industry to GLBT in romance fiction.

First panel: Megan Derr, Astrid Amara, Stormy Glenn, Daisy Harris, Ethan Stone and Anne Tenino

Second panel: Traci Timmons-Gray, LC Chase, Samantha Derr, Lou Harper, Nicole Kimberling and me

 It was followed by a happy hour with a book signing, readings and general mingling and mayhem.

Total-E-Bound authors: Ethan Stone, Morticia Knight, me, Amber Kell and Daisy Harris

See? HAPPY hour.

 Such a great event, and the organizers and sponsors did a fabulous job. I'll definitely be back next year! Afterwards about two dozen of us went out for a late dinner at Buca de Beppo and I had a great time catching up with old friends and meeting new people. And (amazingly enough) one woman who's a sort of cross between the two--as in, I know who she is (since her twin sons danced at my daughter's dance studio, so I'd watched them for years) though we'd never officially met before. Turns out she's a writer in the genre too. Small world!!

The Oregon contingent! Anne Tenino, me, EJ Russell and Lynda Aicher

Okay, so I'm going to wrap this up before I start blathering on as is so aptly illustrated by the below candid shot. But never fear--I'll be back with more updates soon!

Hello, my name is Devon and I'm a hand-talker...

RT 2013...Day Five...Book Fair and FAN-Tastic Excuses to Wear a Cocktail Dress

Big GIANT Book Fair. Yes it was! Not sure anything I can write could do it justice, but here are a few pics:

LA Witt/Lauren Gallagher talks to a fan.

The lovely Ariel Tachna in purple! Shocker! ;)

Damon in the utili-kilt.

Marie always dresses so nicely! And you should see the shoes!

In the foreground are Brynn Paulin and Kate Pearce.

I just love Marie Harte's smile!

Bronwyn Green is even nicer in person!

Isabelle Drake was so dang cute and had a permanent smile!

Confused as usual. I brought Ethan a Diet Coke and he was fine after that.

The lovely Lynne Connolly and her Brit decor!

Leigh with JP Barnaby

I actually left the hotel! Carol Lynne, Ethan Day, Simone Anderson, Suzanne Graham, TA and I made a snap decision, grabbed a couple of cabs, and headed to Hamburger Mary's (during the day! not for the drag show!) for lunch. I had a great Ahi wrap and chili cheese TaTa's (tater tots). I know that sounds like a weird combo, but it was! LOL.
 

Love the GLBT sandwich..totally stealing that idea!

The sad, lonely little pie.

Saturday was packed with cool stuff, even after the Book Fair. It was both FAN-Tastic Day and Teen Day. To me, that was almost my favorite part--seeing all of the hundreds of young readers so excited and lining up to get books and meet authors. It was very gratifying to see the next generation of readers!

The FAN-Tastic Author event was a free-for-all, really! Stacks upon stacks of free books, authors everywhere, food, raffles. I met some of the authors I remember reading as a young girl when I first started reading romance! In fact, I got an ARC of a new book by Jude Deveraux, who I first read thirty years ago! Wow!

Damon was the MC, not singing karaoke.

The wonderful Elizabeth North from DSP, who sponsored the event.

After we hauled our loot back to our rooms and spent some time packing, I wanted to spend some more time with Carol Lynne, who was there but not registered--just hanging out with Ethan. So we went down and sat in the corner table at Spectators (lol) and visited until it was time to say goodbye to them both until GRL this October. *sniff*

Okay, I guess I don't look TOO sad!

 No time for the sads! It was the last night, and time for the cocktail party and dance, so I wore...a cocktail dress. Stood to reason. ;)

Yes, I always end up dancing with Damon. Whether alone...

 

...or with a crowd!!

Marie Sexton and I were twinsies in little black dresses.

 And so our evening concluded, and for me, that was the wrap on RT. Nothing left to do but the practical stuff--finish packing, shipping, checking out, checking into the flight and heading home. It's always so hard to say goodbye to everyone. It was an amazing experience to be with so many people who share my passion for books. I know that this is the first of many RTs to come for me!

"Goodbye all, and see you next year at RT 2014 in New Orleans!"

RT 2013...Day Four...Speed-Pitching, Celeb-Spotting and Freaky Friday

Friday was busy!! It was the last day in Club RT, which by then had become a home away from home...away from home. Friday was also the phenomenon known at Pitch-a-Palooza, basically speed-dating for writers, where acquiring editors and agents from all over are gathered in one place, given one chair in front of them, and aspiring authors get in line with their faves to give them a 3 minute story pitch. And when I say three, I mean it. They had a stopwatch and everything! I was next to and across from NY agents, and that was very interesting, but didn't have much time to watch them since I had people throwing ideas at me left and right. Mostly paranormal for some reason, lol.


It was very cool doing that, and then we got to have more fun and draw the winner of our giveaway. The woman who won was a grandma from Tulsa, Oklahoma, who was sweet as pie. I walked over to the Westin to deliver the prizes and she just kept thanking me and offering me refreshments. :) Loved her!

Loved our giveaway winner!

After that, TA and I went to the one and only panel I hit--Broken Wings, Writing Damaged Characters--led by Amy Lane, ZA Maxfield, Belinda McBride and Kate Pearce. I love them all, but it was especially wonderful to meet Kate, who really inspired me as a writer and I've always credited for my first exposure, so to speak, to the MM genre!

With Kate Pearce...my big fangurl moment!

TA with HER fangurl moment with Amy Lane!

Ethan and ZAM

Once we headed back to the elevator, we noticed signs advertising a room party the Whispering Cove series authors had put together. Since it was right down the hall from us, we headed in and got a yummy drink called Sex At My House--Amaretto, raspberry liquor and pineapple juice. Sweet but refreshing. There were a couple dozen people in the room while we were there and we finally figured out that the dark haired woman getting mobbed was actually EL James, the 50 Shades lady. So Ranae Rose and I went up to meet her and get a pic, right before she had to go to another engagement.

Ranae Rose and I with 50 Shades author EL James.

I later tweeted that I'd had Sex At My House with EL James. Hmm... somehow that didn't quite come out right.

After that we were bored and wandered around to find something to do. LOL! Just kidding! Oh man, there is sooo much to do! I needed ten more of me! We went to Avon's Red Slipper Lounge where the authors were giving away and signing loads of books. I grabbed a couple of YA titles and had them signed to my daughter for gifts. :) I also did an interview there on camera with the folks from RT, so we'll see if they use any of my shot at fame in their video!


We headed back up to, yep, Spectators and gathered as many of the TEB authors as we could find for some drinks and nibbles. No photos were taken, but I remember seeing Marie Sexton, Stephani Hecht, Amber Kell, Simone Anderson, Marie Haynes, Daisy Harris, Suzanne Graham and TA.


Heather Graham's Freaky Friday party was next. I'd been forewarned that it was a good night to be late to the event since a family skit was always part of the act, so I took the opportunity to spend a bit more time catching up with Ethan, who we dragged up to our room so we could continue talking while we got ready.

TaTa and Devo ride again! Yes that is a leash.

Once he saw us in our outfits, we all couldn't stop laughing. Really, it was insane. New nicknames were born that night--Devo and TaTa for us girls. Jury's still out on Ethan's. My vote was Teeth. He said he'd never get date again. Nibbles?

Duck lips. Quack!

Yeah, that was about as straight as we could keep our faces.

Freaky indeed! Wow, there are some seriously repressed souls who bust out all over when they get to conferences, evidently! We had a lot of fun and still managed to get to bed at a reasonable time! Well, one of us anyway.

Awesome photobomb, TA!

With Demon and Blade (aka Damon and Scott)

Leigh's fallen angel caught between Francesca's vampiress and Damon's demon.

Surprised a real smile out of him with a surprise kiss. :)

One of my earrings. The other's a wooden stake.

Smiles!!

Dancing with Mitch... Okay, so it's Heidi Cullinan in drag. Pretty convincing!

Can you tell I spent a lot of time with Leigh Anne? With Len Gunn.

Groovin with Damon.

After we'd got comfy in our new matching T-shirts!

More photos and a write-up on RT Book Reviews' site HERE.

Tomorrow I'll have Day Five...Book Fair and FAN-Tastic Excuses to Wear a Cocktail Dress