Gaydar - OUT NOW!

Hi everyone :)

Gaydar is officially on sale now!

I'm so glad this one is finally out. Matt is one of those characters who really makes me smile.

I'm not having the best of time health wise at the moment (which is why I haven't been blogging as much as I would like) but like Eric from Turquoise and Leather, Matt really has a knack for cheering me up when I'm feeling sorry for myself. I hope he does the same for you if you're having a rough time too :)

Here's the blurb:

Find a gay man in a gay bar. Matt’s sure that should be a lot easier than it actually is.

Matt’s having a run of bad luck – one that’s lasted ever since he stepped out of the closet. An uncanny ability to home in on the only straight guy in a bar room full of gay men really isn’t doing his sex life any favours. A knack for picking complete jerks whenever he does stumble upon a genuinely gay man isn’t helping either.

But, this time everything is going to be different. This time Matt’s absolutely sure his gaydar has guided him towards a completely sane, entirely gay man – which is why he’s arranged to meet him in the gents’ room in five minutes.

What could possibly go wrong

And here's a little excerpt, just to introduce you to Matt:

Let me guess, he’s straight?”

Mathias Hilliard perched his backside on the barstool between his friends. “I’m meeting him in the gents’ toilets in five minutes,” he announced.

Even with his run of luck, Matt was pretty sure an entirely straight man wouldn’t suggest meeting another man there. He ran his hands through his hair, messing up the carefully styled blond strands, and tried not to look too anxious as he watched his friends exchange a very speaking look.

“Married,” they decided in unison.

Matt took a sip of his beer, trying to work some moisture into his throat as nervous energy built inside him. “He says he’s not married.”

“That’s what all your boyfriends start off saying,” Paul reminded him.

“No wedding ring,” Matt recounted. “And no pale line where a wedding ring should be either. I checked.”

“What’s wrong with him then?” Lewis asked from the stool on the other side of him.

Matt glared at his friend as he put his empty beer bottle back on the bar. “Maybe there’s nothing wrong with him. Maybe he’s just a nice guy who just happens to want to have sex with me. Would that really be so strange?”

Out of the corner of his eye he saw one of his friends raise an eyebrow at the other. The bartender took the empty bottle from in front of him and tossed it into a barrel that was already half full of other empty bottles before he walked back down to the other end of the bar.

“So, I’m having a run of bad luck,” Matt said with a shrug.

“One that’s lasted ever since you came out of the closet,” Lewis muttered into his glass.

Matt made a point of ignoring him. He stood up and straightened his new shirt, smoothing out non-existent creases. Taking a deep breath, he nodded to himself. This time it would be different. This guy would be different. He just knew it.

A few minutes later Matt stepped into the men’s room at the back of the bar. He didn’t even have time to look around before his back hit the wall. A man’s body covered his, pressing him back against the plasterwork, holding him there when instinct made Matt push against the larger man’s chest.

Firm, demanding lips swallowed his gasp. A confident tongue swept into his mouth, coaxing a moan from him. Without any order from his brain, Matt felt his hands claw at the man’s shirt as he tried to pull him closer. There wasn’t much material to hold on to. Well-defined muscles moved under his hands. Suddenly it became absolutely essential that the shirt should go.

Dropping one hand to the other man’s waist, Matt tugged at the material, trying to free it from his jeans so he could at least feel skin under his touch, even if he couldn’t strip the other man down right there.

Large hands wrapped around both his wrists and pinned them against the wall on either side of his head. Matt groaned a protest. The guy had suggested they meet in the men’s room. He couldn’t start playing hard to get now. There had to be a rule against that sort of crime against humanity and common bloody sense.

Thanks for reading - just click on the cover at the top of the page if you want to know more

Hope you're having a great day.

It's Spring!

Hi everyone,

The Oh, Get a Grip! topic of the week is Spring.

I'm talking about Spring Fever.

Anyone else got it this year. If you get a spare moment, drop by and let me know :)

Blogs I follow and why

Hi everyone,

I'm over on Writer's Evolution today.

The topic of the week is Blogs we follow and why.

Here's my contribution, such as it is, lol. I should, but I don't.

Hope you're having a great day!

Gay Like You

Hi everyone,

The contract came through for it today, so I guess that makes it official. My second Lust Bite will be released June 22nd with Total-e-bound. It's another male/male, BDSM :)

Here's the blurb:

Cody’s more than happy to have sex, he may even be willing to offer his submission, but experience has taught him that’s as far as he can go as a gay man. Tristan disagrees…

Tristan has being gay all worked out rather nicely. His biggest problem with his sexuality is his mother’s persistent attempts to find a nice young man to marry him off to. And even that doesn’t seem like such a terrible thing when he arrives to have dinner with his parents and finds Cody sitting at the table.

Homosexuality isn’t working out quite so well for Cody. As far as he can see, Tristan’s appearance in his life is unlikely to make things any better. Nice guys rarely stay nice for long and dominants have a way of turning into complete psychos if he lets his guard down.

Cody needs to walk away before Tristan tempts him into wanting the sort of happiness he knows he can’t have. Tristan needs to stop him.

Dancing

Hi everyone,

I'm over on Oh, Get a Grip! today.

The topic for the week is Dancing.

My views on it can be found here: A vertical expression of a horizontal intent.

Hope you're having a great day!

Writers Peeves

Hi everyone,

I'm over on Writer's Evolution today.

The topic of the week is Writer's Peeves.

Do you want to know what really winds me up beyond all logic or reason?

Just click here ;)

Turquoise and Leather - OUT NOW!

Turquoise and Leather is OUT NOW!

So excited about this one.

Okay, I'm exicited about every one. But this one is a little bit even more special.

It was the first story I ever had accepted. It recieved the first piece of cover art that is all mine. (BTW - Lyn Taylor posted a bit about how she designed the cover on here blog. You can check that out here.) It's also the first story in a collection called Collared. And it features Eric - he's the guy on the cover, and he's one of my favourite characters - I never manage to think about him without smiling.

Here's the blurb for the series as a whole:

Leather. Latex. Silver. Gold. Ink. Velvet.

There are as many different shapes and styles of collar as there are people who wear them.

Protection. Possession. Dominance. Submission. Loyalty. Love.

Some collars mean it's time to play, others signify a life time commitment. A fun bit of bondage to one person can easily look like the kinky equivalent of a wedding ring to another. A gold necklace might look vanilla enough until you know what it means to the person wearing it.

But no matter what it's made of or what it represents. Collars are important. A collar can make or break the submissive wearing it - and the dominant who put it around their neck.

It doesn't matter if you are dominant or submissive. Everything changes once one person is Collared.

And here's the blurb for Turquoise and Leather:

An untrained submissive might not be what George wants, but Eric could be just what George needs.

George McAllister knows better than to hook up with an untrained submissive. He doesn’t have the patience to guide a novice through his first kinky experiences. His lovers have to know what they are doing and do what they are told. When he sees Eric dancing on top of a table in a kinky club, he assumes the beautiful young man is an experienced submissive. Then he sees the turquoise and leather on his neck and recognises it as a collar. Someone else already owns Eric. George has no choice but to walk away.

Eric Jordan doesn’t know much about kink and he has no idea why George is suddenly less than enthusiastic. But he knows what he wants and if he has to chase after George to get it, so be it. If George wants to believe the pretty bit of rock on his necklace means something kinky, that’s fine. But Eric doesn’t belong to anyone but himself and he won’t give up possession of himself for one night in George’s bed.

An untrained submissive might not be what George wants, but he could be just what George needs.

And here's an extract too :)

With his back to George, the dancer lifted his arms and pushed his hands through his hair. His white shirt lifted and exposed his back, revealing tantalising glimpses of golden-brown skin.

As well as George could judge from his position several feet below the platform, the dancer was close to his height. But he was of a far slighter build. His cut off shirt sleeves revealed muscular arms. For a brief moment he turned and showed a well developed torso with defined abs. It was the lean muscle of a runner rather than the bulk of a gym junkie. He was just George’s type.

George stopped again, hypnotised by the dancer’s movement. A little voice in the back of his mind piped up, telling him a thirty-year old dominant should have more self respect. He should be ashamed of acting like a submissive teenager at his first school dance. His cock didn’t give a damn. It reverted wholeheartedly to teenage enthusiasm.

For the first time in years, George could ignore the loud music and jostling crowd. In his mind’s eye, he saw the table dancer spread out on his bed in his apartment. Golden skin sprawled against crisp white sheets. Black leather wrapped around the dancer’s wrists and ankles. In the silence of the fantasy, he heard a hush broken only by his lover’s frustrated whimpers as he teased him to the edge of his orgasm. George felt the smooth bare skin under his hands. The dancer arched into his touch, begging for more.

George’s fingers twitched. He imagined burying his fists in the thick blond hair, holding him in place so he could take his pleasure as he wished. His cock jumped again. He pictured the dancer kneeling submissively in the middle of an empty room. The dancer’s breaths coming in gasps, he broke their silence to whisper just one word— Master…

He hadn’t felt such an instant pull towards another man in years. For all his sarcasm about the leather hook up spot, the club eliminated any need for subtle questions. Everyone was gay. Everyone was kinky.

The dancer was obviously submissive. No dominant would advertise his availability on top of a table. And a skilled observer could judge his preference for catching rather than pitching from the way his hips moved in the dance, pushing back against an absent partner on every beat.

Best of all, he appeared completely at home on the table. He wasn’t new to the scene – he’d know what he was doing.

George smiled. It had been too long since a well-trained submissive knelt at his feet. Stepping forward in each moment of darkness, looking up in each light opportunity, he made his way to the base of the dancer’s table and stood by the bottom step of the ladder as the song ended. The brief pause between songs brought black shoes and leather trousers down the ladder. The dancer turned and jumped the last step, landing snugly in George’s arms.

“What the-” The dancer fought to keep his balance, pressing himself tight against George’s body. Strong hands grabbed at his shirt. Big blue eyes looked up at George, full of surprise and confusion.

He was slightly shorter than George had guessed, barely scraping the six foot mark. They fitted together perfectly.

A shocked gasp, a quick inspection of his unexpected crash mat, and the dancer smiled. “Hi.”

He didn’t rush to pull away. George rested his hands possessively on his new friend’s waist. Pushing back the cotton shirt, he trailed his fingers over the skin and leather.

George scanned the bare skin from the low slung waist and up over the lightly defined muscles, admiring his unblemished prize. Then he saw the leather around the younger man’s throat and the blue-green stone suspended from it.

With a silent curse, George stepped back. “Sorry, I thought you were someone else.”

Turning away from the beautiful young man, he stalked to the bar. All the good ones might be gay, but damn if all the good ones weren’t taken too. The thin leather collar around the guy’s neck didn’t leave anything open to interpretation; neither did the turquoise hanging from it.

Just his bloody luck. The man was beautiful and kinky and he was already marked as someone else’s lover.

“So, who do I remind you of?”

George looked over his shoulder. What? Oh, yes. He said he’d mistaken Eric for someone else. That had to have been the singularly most inane line George had spouted since his balls dropped.

“An ex?” the blond wriggled his way between George and the bar so they stood face to face. The crowd pushed them together, letting George feel the heat and strength in the dancer’s body.

“No.” He didn’t remind George of anyone but the submissive he wanted to take home.

“Good.” The dancer smiled again. “It’s always off-putting when a guy screams someone else’s name during sex. Mine’s Eric, for future reference.”

*End of Excerpt*

If you want to know more, just click here :)

Silence...

I've been a bit quite for a while. Mostly because I've been thinking. I know - very dangerous, I won't let it become a habit.

I while ago I mentioned that I was going to start work on a series of interconnected stories. That's still the plan. I've got two seasonal/anthology first drafts I want to write this month, and then it's on to the series.

So I've been plotting that series out.

Here's where it get complicated.

I have 11 completely different series in my head - some more developed than others, but all there in some form or other, waiting to be written. Added to that, there are also half a dozen more collections around various themes, not to mention heaven only knows how many stand alone titles. (And I wonder why I get migranes!)

I've picked which series one I want to write. I'm now in the process of untangling those six stories from all the other stories inside my head.

Somehow that means getting a hell of a lot of bits of pieces of different stories out of my head and only the computer, just so I have some sort of clue what goes with what and what I need for which story.

It's... interesting. And it's made even more interesting by the fact out of all those stories (over 200 individual titles at last count) I've named a grand total of about half a dozen characters.

My baby naming book might fall apart by the time I get this series plotted out and all the characters in the different stories named!

Do you know the really stupid thing?

I'm enjoying it - all of it.

Lol, is it really a wonder I've written more than a few masochists in my time?

Hope everyone else is having a great time.

Sex and laughter

Hi everyone,

The topic for the week on the Oh, Get a Grip! blog is sex and laughter.

Am I funny? Well, the Jury is still out...

Do stop by if you get the chance :)

In the Heat of the Moment

This story was accepted a while ago, but a few final decisions weren't made until recently.

In the Heat of the Moment is a male/male Lustbite length story. It's going to be released on July 13th as part of Total-e-bound's Summer Seductions collection.

Like all my stories, it has a BDSM flavour - but this one has a bit more S&M in it than most of the others :)

Very excited to know where this story is going to make it's home!

Here's the blurb:

Shawn’s not a submissive and he doesn’t need to be rescued from doing exactly what he wants. Now all he has to do is find a way to make Brett believe it.

Twenty-one, naturally submissive and absolutely stunning, Shawn is obviously out of his depth at a hotel catering to serious dominants. As Shawn’s boss, Brett knows it’s his duty to step in and rescue the younger man - especially since he’s been keeping his eye on Shawn for months, waiting for just the right moment to make the younger man aware of his latent submissive desires. He’s not about to let Shawn fall into the hands of another dominant.

Shawn might have a huge crush on his boss, that but doesn’t mean the guy has a right to “rescue” him from doing exactly what he wants, or to warn every interested dominant away from him. Shawn might enjoy rough sex with dominant men, but he’s no submissive, and he can look after himself. He’s not about to forget that just because Brett makes him wonder if submitting to him could be different to submitting to any other man he’s ever met.

.....

In other news:

The story I sent in towards the end of last month was accepted. (Yay!) Not sure on some details yet, but it's gone to contract with TEB. Will let you know more when I know more.

I've also just sent in another Lust Bite. That's with my editor at the moment. Will let you know what happens to it.

*Blush*

Over on Writer's Evolution we're talking about writer's most embarrassing moments this week. I just posted my contribution.

Embarrassed? Me?

Do stop by and comment if you get a chance.

Writing BDSM

I picked the topic for discussion this week at Oh, Get a Grip!

It's Writing BDSM.

I just posted my thoughts on the topic - Writing from the soul.

Do stop by and comment if you get the chance - there's a new excerpt from Whispers up there too :)

Caught in the Middle - Cover Art!

A new cover just came through. It's for Total-e-bound's Caught in the Middle MFM anthology.

Just realised it's my first cover showing a woman!

The MFM combination is the one where the two guys are straight, if anyone's wondering.

My story in the anthology is Between Tooth and Paw. It's the first MFM I've ever written. It's also BDSM, vampire/human/werewolf and it's older woman/younger men!

Here's the blurb :)

Caught between two dominant men until they learn to settle their differences, all Jasmine can do is submit – and enjoy.

Thrown in between the future alpha of all the werewolf packs and the next head of all the vampire clans – the entirely human Jasmine Neal is charged with the task of helping the two younger men to forget their differences and set aside their hatred for each other.

Offering Stafford and Hayden her submission is easy. Offering them her body brings her nothing but pleasure. But she’s only been sent to submit to them for one night. When the council of elders return to discover if their scheme to settle the men’s differences is successful, she knows that the joy she finds with the two men will be over.

Jasmine didn’t expect to find one potential master that night, let alone be caught between two. But, that only makes it harder when she has no choice but to lose them both.

Writing for the Market

Hi everyone,

I'm over on Writer's Evolution today, talking about Writing for the Market.

Answering the call.

Do stop by if you get the chance :)

Memo: Chats, markets and BDSM

Hello everyone,

On the weekend:

My editor accepted the last story I submitted to Total-e-bound. Very excited. It's my twelth acceptance. I'll be back with more about it when I have a few more details to share.

Today:

Total-e-bound's March newsletter went out. My chapter of the round robin is part of it. You can read about what Mark and Ryan get up to here.

I'm also about to take part in a chat here. Everyone is welcome. It's on NOW! (Which is why I'm up at crazy o'clock!)

Tuesday:

Writer's evolution - writing for the market.

Thursday:

Oh, get a grip - writing BDSM (anyone guess who's turn it was to pick the topic this week *tries to look innocent and quickly gives up*)

Rest of the week:

I'm debating what to do with my blogs and topics on this, blog, so I'll have to let you know as I make my decisions.

Saint David's Day

For anyone who doesn't know I'm from Wales (a country in the UK, if you're wondering, lol).

The first of March is Saint David's Day, and Saint David is the patron saint of Wales, so I thought I would share a bit about the country and the Saint David's traditions with you. (Okay, I admit, some of it is copy and pasted, lol.)



Who was St. David, & why is he so important to the Welsh? And just how is St. David's Day celebrated in Wales today?

St David's Day is celebrated in Wales on 1 March, in honour of Dewi Sant or St David, the patron saint of Wales. Little is known about him for certain. What little information we have is based on an account of his life written by Rhigyfarch towards the end of the 11th century.

According to this Latin manuscript, Dewi died in the year 589. His mother was called Non, and his father, Sant, was the son of Ceredig, King of Ceredigion. After being educated in Cardiganshire, he went on pilgrimage through south Wales and the west of England, where it is said that he founded religious centres such as Glastonbury and Croyland. He even went on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, where he was made archbishop.

He eventually settled at Glyn Rhosyn (St David's), in south-west Wales, where he established a very strict ascetic religious community. Many miracles have been attributed to him, the most incredible of which was performed when he was preaching at the Synod of Llanddewibrefi - he caused the ground to rise underneath him so that he could be seen and heard by all. How much truth is in this account of his life by Rhigyfarch is hard to tell. It must be considered that Rhigyfarch was the son of the Bishop of St David's, and that the Life was written as propaganda to establish Dewi's superiority and defend the bishopric from being taken over by Canterbury and the Normans.

From the 12th century onwards, Dewi's fame spread throughout South Wales and as far as Ireland and Brittany. St David's Cathedral became a popular centre of pilgrimage, particularly after Dewi was officially recognised as a Catholic saint in 1120. From this period on, he was frequently referred to in the work of medieval Welsh poets such as Iolo Goch and Lewys Glyn Cothi. In 1398, it was ordained that his feast-day was to be kept by every church in the Province of Canterbury. Though the feast of Dewi as a religious festival came to an end with the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century, the day of his birth became a national festival during the18th century.

Now March 1 is celebrated by schools and cultural societies throughout Wales. It is the custom on that day to wear either a leek or a daffodil - two of our national emblems - and for young girls to wear the national costume.

National Emblems

The Red Dragon is the heraldic symbol of Wales, and is incorporated into the Welsh national flag.

According to tradition, the red dragon appeared on a crest borne by Arthur, whose father Uthr Bendragon, had seen a dragon in the sky predicting that he would be king.

The dragon as a symbol was probably introduced into Britain by the Roman legions. Medieval Welsh poets often compared their leaders to dragons in poems praising their bravery, for example, Gruffydd ab yr Ynad Coch said of Llewelyn ap Gruffudd Pen dragon, pen draig oedd arnaw ('A dragon's head he had').

Between 1485 and 1603, the dragon formed part of the arms of the Tudor dynasty, but it was replaced on the royal coat of arms with a unicorn by order of James I.

The red dragon reappeared as the royal badge for Wales in 1807, and from then on it was often seen in the regalia of Welsh patriotic societies. At the suggestion of the Gorsedd of the Bards, it was officially recognised by the Queen in 1959, and is now widely used as the national flag.

The Leek and the Daffodil


Both the sixth-century poet Taliesin and the thirteenth-century Red Book of Hergest extol the virtues of the leek, which, if eaten, encouraged good health and happiness. Small wonder, therefore, that a national respect grew around this plant, which was worn by the Welsh in the Battle of Crecy, and by 1536, when Henry VIII gave a leek to his daughter on 1 March, was already associated with St David's Day. It is possible that the green and white family colours adopted by the Tudors were taken from their liking for the leek.


In comparison with the ancient Welsh associations of the leek, the daffodil has only recently assumed a position of national importance. An increasingly popular flower during the 19th century, especially among women, its status was elevated by the Welsh-born prime minister David Lloyd George, who wore it on St David's Day and used it in ceremonies in 1911 to mark the investiture of the Prince of Wales at Caernarfon.

Welsh National Dress

The popular image of Welsh 'national' dress, of a woman in a red cloak and tall black hat, is one which largely developed during the nineteenth century. It was part of a conscious revival of Welsh culture during a period when traditional values were under threat.

The costume regarded as national dress is based on clothing worn by Welsh countrywomen during the early nineteenth century, whch was a striped flannel petticoat, worn under a flannel open-fronted bedgown, with an apron, shawl and kerchief or cap. Style of bedgown varied, with loose coat-like gowns, gowns with a fitted bodice and long skirts and also the short gown, which was very similar to a riding habit style.

The hats generally worn were the same as hats worn by men at the period. The tall 'chimney' hat did not appear until the late 1840s and seems to be based on an amalgamation of men's top hats and a form of high hat worn during the 1790-1820 period in country areas.

Lady Llanover, the wife of an ironmaster in Gwent, was very influential in encouraging the wearing of a 'national' dress, both in her own home and at eisteddfodau. She considered it important to encourage the use of the Welsh language and the wearing of an identifiable Welsh costume. She succeeded in her aim mainly because people felt that their national identity was under threat and the wearing of a national costume was one way to promote that identity.

A further influence was the work of artists producing prints for the rising tourist trade, which had the effect of popularising the idea of a typical Welsh costume, and later the work of photographers who produced thousands of postcards. This contributed to the stereotyping of one style of costume, as opposed to the various styles which were worn earlier in the century.

Shawls were the most fashionable of accessories between 1840 and 1870. The most popular were the Paisley shawls whose pattern originally came from Kashmir in India.

At first plain shawls with a woven patterned border attached were the most common. Later many fine examples with allover and border patterns were woven in Norfolk, Scotland and Paris. Shawls of the middle of the century were very large and complemented the full skirts of the period. Shawls were made in other fabrics and patterns, including Cantonese silk and fine machine lace, though it was the paisley pattern which became very popular in Wales along with home-produced woollen shawls with checked patterns.

In later years, although fashionable women no longer wore shawls, smaller shawls were still made and worn by countrywomen and working women in the towns. By the 1870s, cheaper shawls were produced by printing the designs on fine wools or cotton. Even during the early years of the twentieth century woollen, knitted and paisley shawls were widely worn in rural Wales. The paisley shawl even became accepted as part of 'Welsh' costume, though there is nothing traditionally Welsh about it at all.

One tradition of shawl wearing which is truly Welsh is the practice of carrying babies in a shawl. Illustrations showing this have survived from the late eighteenth century when Welsh women wore a simple length of cloth wrapped around their body. When shawls became popular, they were adapted to the same use, and some women even today still keep up the tradition.

And that's it.

My biggest memory of Saint David's day is dressing up in Welsh costume every year - all the schools take a photo of the children all dressed up, and the photos go in the papers.

Hope you all had a good Saint David's day!