Monday, August 31, 2015

'Unravelled in New York' by Suzanne Nicole


Blurb:

Sydney journalist Charli Cooper has no idea what destiny has in store for her as she packs her bags and moves half way around the world for a fresh start.

Businessman, Jack Manning is used to getting what he wants and has no patience for dealing with an inexperienced journalist who has no idea of the New York social hierarchy.

As she unlocks the truth about Manning and his empire, she realises all is not as it seems and if she digs deep enough, she might just find the story she has been looking for.

Will the secrets they both hold cause their delicately poised relationship to crumble?

Can one mistake unravel their lives?

A full-length stand-alone novel.

http://amzn.to/1EtHBmE

About the author:

With a passion for reading and writing Suzanne has been creating stories all her life through both her writing and dance teaching. Suzanne is a graduate from IMEB (Aus) and is a member of Romance Writers, Australia, she is also a qualified and registered dance and drama teacher. When she is not bombarding family and friends with story ideas she can be found in front of a class of students teaching dance or curled up with her treasured Kindle. She loves romantic stories, angsty reads and dark-haired heroes. She also loves travelling, her recent highlights have been her trips to Los Angeles, New York and Boston and she dreams about going back there soon. Suzanne lives in Sydney, Australia with her husband and three gorgeous boys.

Sunday, August 30, 2015

'The Healing Touch' by Angelina Kalahari #FREE today!


Based on real events, The Healing Touch, is a mesmerising story of loss, heartbreak, passion, and love in many guises. A gripping read you won't want to put down. Funny, devastating, and uplifting by turns, The Healing Touch will leave you yearning to experience the perfect love yourself. 

When not one, but two men enter her life, Isabelle Cooper's world is turned upside down. Will the unexpected loss of one man drive her back inside her safe, albeit unfulfilling life, or push her into the arms of the other? 

Has she finally had enough of an unsatisfactory sex life with her husband of twenty two years? And will the cost be worth feeling more fully alive than ever before? 

Gorgeous, talented, complex Isabelle, a sexy, youthful fifty five year old, is going through the menopause. But is it also a new coming of age for her? Is it time to question her long established position in life, her well-learned role? Is she bold enough to open new windows and walk through new doors?

http://amzn.to/1X28154


Angelina Kalahari has worked for over twenty-five years as a professional actress, stage director and operatic soprano, performing around the world. She appeared on many diverse platforms, such as opening the busking scheme on London Underground to a recital at the Royal Opera House and everything in between.

She holds degrees in drama and opera and in 2005 she received recognition for her contribution to the music, culture and economy of the UK from the Queen at Buckingham Palace. 

Angelina has always regarded herself as a storyteller, either through music or through acting and directing. She honed her storytelling skills from a young age, writing and telling stories to her siblings at bed time. It became a habit through the years and although she has many finished novels, The Healing Touch is her debut published novel, and not one she envisioned writing. But the tragic loss of her soul-brother, and the insistence of a close friend, resulted in writing and publishing The Healing Touch. 

Born in Namibia, and having lived all over the world, she currently lives in London, UK, with her husband and cat.

Author Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/angelina.kalahari
Personal Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000693447429
Author Twitter: https://twitter.com/angelinakalhari
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Starlight8AL

Saturday, August 29, 2015

Sale-priced for a limited time! 'A Spell in Provence' by Marie Leval


Blurb:

With few roots in England and having just lost her job, Amy Carter decides to give up on home and start a new life in France, spending her redundancy package turning an overgrown Provençal farmhouse, Bellefontaine, into a successful hotel. Though she has big plans for her new home, none of them involves falling in love – least of all with Fabien Coste, the handsome but arrogant owner of a nearby château. As romance blossoms, eerie and strange happenings in Bellefontaine hint at a dark mystery of the Provençal countryside which dates back many centuries and holds an entanglement between the ladies of Bellefontaine and the ducs de Coste at its centre. As Amy works to unravel the mystery, she begins to wonder if it may not just be her heart at risk, but her life too.

Read an excerpt:
Shivering in the cold breeze despite her shawl, Amy joined the guests lining up to be greeted by Fabien, who in true lord of the manor style, stood tall and imposing at the top of the steps, with torches burning on either side of him.

He might wear a black dining suit and a crisp white shirt instead of a suit of armour, but there was something untamed, fundamentally uncivilized and proprietary about the way he surveyed the crowd – as if he truly owned everything and everyone, like Frédéric had said, and Amy was seized by an irresistible, irrational and overwhelming urge to flee. She didn’t want to speak to Fabien Coste, didn’t want to put up with his arrogant ways. He could keep his fancy chateau, his contacts and glamorous guests, she didn’t need him. She would walk home. It wasn’t that far.

She was about to step aside when he looked down and their gaze met. Shadows danced on his face. The torches hissed in the breeze, their flames shooting high in the air and reflecting in his green eyes, giving them a deep, dangerous glow. For the space of a heartbeat, the noise of conversations around her became distant and fuzzy, and all she could see was him.

He walked down, took her hand and lifted it to his lips. Even though his mouth barely touched her skin, a flash of heat reverberated through her body.

‘Mademoiselle Carter – Amy, you’re here at last.’

It was the first time he’d spoken her first name. He made it sound French, sensual and incredibly romantic. Aimée. Beloved.

‘Shall I escort you inside and introduce you to a few people?’

Panic made her heart flutter and turned her brain to mush.

‘Well, it’s just that …’

He arched a dark eyebrow, looked down, and smiled as if he knew exactly what she was feeling.

‘You’re here now. You might as well make the most of it.’

Buy links:

Marie Laval Bio

Originally from Lyon in France, Marie studied History and Law at university there before moving to Lancashire in England where she worked in a variety of jobs, from PA in a busy university department to teacher of French in schools and colleges. Writing, however, was always her passion, and she spends what little free time she has dreaming and making up stories. A SPELL IN PROVENCE is her first contemporary romance. This, as well as her historical romances ANGEL HEART and THE LION'S EMBRACE are published by Áccent Press.

You can find Marie here http://marielaval.blogspot.co.uk/

and https://www.facebook.com/marielavalauthor?fref=ts

and https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6538479.Marie_Laval

https://twitter.com/MarieLaval1

Friday, August 28, 2015

'Heartbroken Billionaire (A BBW Second Chance Love Story)' by Nadia Keer


A Book Excerpt: 

Her Story: "My husband doesn't hit me," she said in a very low voice. "I'm not saying he does but if someone is feel free to talk to me about it. My sister is a counselor and if you need someone to talk to in confidence..... 

His Story: "Help! Help! Call 911," he screamed at the top of his lungs. 

"Please, Alexandria, breathe," he begged her as his sight became blurry from the tears that overflowed from his eyes. 

The passion will take you on the ride with them. Into their personal hell and out again. 

Written in the style of Nicolas Sparks, Kelly Favor, Hannah Ford.

http://amzn.to/1i7aI5b

About the author:

Nadia lives in GA and has just begun to put her stories into print. Her friends have enjoyed reading them for years and encouraged her to publish. Growing up she read many types of romance novels. Then her stories started forming in her head and she wrote them down. Life experiences through college also gave her plenty of ideas to write about. I hope you enjoy them.

Sign up for the newsletter here: http://NadiaKeer.com You will only receive emails on new weekly releases.

Meet Ken Bachtold, author of 'All By Myself'

Please welcome author Ken Bachtold to Books to Light Your Fire today. His decision to join the growing number of M/M romances stems from a desire to create a book that is more true to life than other contemporaries. He also has a varied background in theatre that makes his own story as interesting as the ones he pens. Get to know him and his books.

What is it that drives you to write?
I have read voraciously all my life. But, when I started reading MM books, I found that they were mostly written by middle-aged married women (with children, a dog, a cat, and a tank of fish, who were from the Midwest and loved gardening! To my dismay, I found that they featured endless sex scenes, described in minute detail to the very last drop of fluid. Usually these sex scenes lasted for six pages of more, not leaving a lot or space for the story. And sad scenes were virtually the same. The readers were mostly young girls! In reality, I found them to really be porn! And, these women got the whole gay relationship all wrong, from the silly to the serious (i.e. Gay men do NOT wear boxers, they were briefs, and one does not have to aim carefully at just the right angle to hit the other guys “gland”. NEWS: You can’t miss it!!!) I got so frustrated that I thought I should quit moaning, and write the kind of thing I liked (and would appeal to gay men instead of young girls). So I did. I feature strong stories with two equally masculine men (no whips) that are highly romantic. No lurid sex scenes. Once I got going I couldn’t seem to stop – new ideas all the time.
On what are you currently working?
Right now I’m just finishing my latest, Mood Indigo, which involves an amnesiac, and a piano player with a band, who also owns a club called The Treble Clef, and whose been bitterly hurt in the past, and is not about to let it happen again. This idea came to me when I wrote Blue Valentine Blues which demanded a color theme. I’d listed all the colors and an idea for each. When it came time for a new story, I chose indigo, and the song came to mind. When the amnesia walks into the club, he and the Pianist have what you might call a transcendental experience and feel a riveting connection. The pianist feels waves of sadness emanating from the amnesic and they seem to him to be indigo instead of blue. Without conscious thought, he slips into the song Mood Indigo, which he then plays every time the other guy comes into the club, until they finally meet. I also have three others in the works, Looking Back For Tomorrow, which goes back and forth between college days and the present, A Company Of Players involving a guy and friends who come to New York to start a theater. And It Began With A Rose Called “Love” which is set in a law firm.
What is it that drives you to write?
I have read voraciously all my life. But, when I started reading MM books, I found that they were mostly written by middle-aged married women (with children, a dog, a cat, and a tank of fish, who were from the Midwest and loved gardening! To my dismay, I found that they featured endless sex scenes, described in minute detail to the very last drop of fluid. Usually these sex scenes lasted for six pages of more, not leaving a lot or space for the story. And sad scenes were virtually the same. The readers were mostly young girls! In reality, I found them to really be porn! And, these women got the whole gay relationship all wrong, from the silly to the serious (i.e. Gay men do NOT wear boxers, they were briefs, and one does not have to aim carefully at just the right angle to hit the other guys “gland”. NEWS: You can’t miss it!!!) I got so frustrated that I thought I should quit moaning, and write the kind of thing I liked (and would appeal to gay men instead of young girls). So I did. I feature strong stories with two equally masculine men (no whips) that are highly romantic. No lurid sex scenes. Once I got going I couldn’t seem to stop – new ideas all the time.
Please tell us about your other published works.
I first wrote Love Like Lightning – Ten Stories about Love At First Sight – which I self-published because I was new, and was too timid to send off the big publishers. (It was not a happy experience, but the book was well received). Then I got courageous, and sent my next book, Seeing The Same Blue to what I considered to be top of the line, Dreamspinner Press, and they accepted it. I was thrilled. I sent off my next two books, Blue Valentine Blues, and my most recent All By Myself to the same place and they were accepted too! I felt I had “arrived.” 
On what are you currently working?
Right now I’m just finishing my latest, Mood Indigo, which involves an amnesiac, and a piano player with a band, who also owns a club called The Treble Clef, and whose been bitterly hurt in the past, and is not about to let it happen again. This idea came to me when I wrote Blue Valentine Blues which demanded a color theme. I’d listed all the colors and an idea for each. When it came time for a new story, I chose indigo, and the song came to mind. When the amnesia walks into the club, he and the Pianist have what you might call a transcendental experience and feel a riveting connection. The pianist feels waves of sadness emanating from the amnesic and they seem to him to be indigo instead of blue. Without conscious thought, he slips into the song Mood Indigo, which he then plays every time the other guy comes into the club, until they finally meet. I also have three others in the works, Looking Back For Tomorrow, which goes back and forth between college days and the present, A Company Of Players involving a guy and friends who come to New York to start a theater. And It Began With A Rose Called “Love” which is set in a law firm.
Who else should we be reading?
Almost no one! There are a few. Marie Sexton and Ariel Tracha. Also The Portrait Of series by J.B. Bowie, the three Finding books by Andrew Barriger, the Raised By Wolves quartet by W.A. Hoffman and especially the Scarlet And The White Wolf trilogy by Kirby Crow. Otherwise, I’m pretty much at a loss. Main stream I love Jonathan Kellerman and Dick Francis and all the Reacher books.
So, what lights your fire?
Theater, theater, theater. It’s always been of vast importance to me, and nothing else can even come close. However, I do like writing very much also.
Tell us about your theatre experience. Are you still involved? Do you miss it?
I’ve had eleven years of college! I started out at U.C. Berkeley in engineering (my older brother was an engineer and it was expected in my family that being an engineer was the only profession one could have). Well, on day on a sandy hill surveying, I decided I hated engineering. I left school for a time. When I decided to go back to San Francisco State University, I thought I’d take on course in everything I liked and then go on to teach the one I liked best. So I took courses in photography, art, sculpture, ceramics and for character building (I was very shy) I’d take drama. The first scene I had in the class was the tack room scene from The Rainmaker by N. Richard Nash. I played Starbuck. When we finished the scene, I found two people crying. I immediately went up to the administration building and changed my major to Theater and ended up with a BA & MA and a minor in art. When I came to New York (the lure of the Big Time) I made the rounds for many years, had some close calls but nothing really happened. When I found out that most open calls were only to shut Equity up, and no one ever got a part that way, I stopped. Then I started my own company (Surprise: A Company Of Players) and I directed five shows in five years – but, alas, no being a good money man I ran out of same. Later I did many shows with a friend who produced the Spotlight On Festivals and I did six shows with him over the next several years. Then a great hiatus. Then I wrote a gay themed play called Staring Over for the Ninth Annual Fresh Fruit Festival. A few years later, I had to have an ankle fusion for an old break I got in college ice skating. It didn’t come out too well and I don’t know if I could bet another show together or not. We’ll see. I do miss it a lot. Both acting and directing.
What can we find you doing when you aren't writing?
After having my department (Word Processing where I did PowerPoint shows and graphs and such) evilly outsourced (after 25 years yet and there were only 10 of us) I started writing in earnest. I also read Daily KOS every night for my real news (forget the paper and TV which are all biased because they’re all owned by five big corporations and lean right too much). Then I add pithy (I hope) text and phots to my Tumblr site, do and read Facebook, Twitter and add photos to my Pinterest site. I still read a lot (on my Kindle) of main stream (mysteries and government intrigue) and MM books until I can’t stand it and delete them.
What is something readers may be surprised to learn about you?
I’m a bit of a clutter bug, I seem unable to resist laying things on flat surfaces and elsewhere. But, I’m reforming and I’ve been cleaning things out giving a lot away to two charity second hand stores, The Housing Works here in New York and Highways in Bayonne, New Jersey. Soon, I will be clutter free. 
I also totally loused up the one true relationship I had many years ago with a fantastic guy. At that time I was very closeted, and couldn’t handle being in a gay relationship. It lasted two years only and it was all my fault that it ended. I’ll regret that forever.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
Only that this has been a highly interesting trip down memory lane, and I thank you profusely for the chance. It was great fun!!!!

http://amzn.to/1PwDQ0i


About the author:

BA & MA from San Francisco State University in Theatre (Acting and Directing) with a minor in Art.

My latest book (All By Myself) was just published by Dreamspinner Press and can be found on Amazon. This followed Dreamspinner’s publication of my last two novels (Seeing The Same Blue and Blue Valentine Blues).

Before that, Outskirts Press published Love Like Lightning – Ten Stories Of Love At First Sight, also on Amazon.

My original play, Starting Over (which I also directed), was just staged as part of the Ninth Annual Fresh Fruit Festival here in New York. Audience reaction was terrific. It was one of nine plays accepted out of 60 submitted. It was an MM romance. The blurb in the brochure for the festival read, "A play about love and loss. Griff has recently lost his longtime partner. Can he find happiness with Ben, the new neighbor down the hall. Supported by his sister and opposed by his widowed mother, now remarried to a homophobic preacher."

I've also written 5 musicals, book, music and lyrics.

Saloon (loosely suggested by the old melodrama The Drunkard) which opened The Gatetway Dinner Theatre in New Jersey to great reviews. It was subsequently optioned by Broadway producer Jerry Schloschberg (who, at the time was, producing the revival of On The Town with Bernadette Peters), but a show sluggishly following the old material opened and closed the same night and he backed off thinking there was now a "stigma" on the material.

The Facts Of Life (a musical about War, Prejudice and Aging, circa the ‘60s) was written at the BMI Music Workshop taught by Broadway orchestra leader Lyman Engle after several auditions before acceptance in the class. It was deemed worthy of a staged reading there.

Boo!, based on the old gothic novel The Castle Spectre was done by several regional theatres.

I was hired to doctor a musical based on Ephigenia At Aulis, called The Winds Of Aulis. I changed the name to Delimma! and wrote a subplot and mostly new lyrics. Although the play was fully backed, it never reached production and I never found out why.

I’ve written and staged numerous night club and cabaret acts and taught singing for the musical stage for 15 years. 

Thursday, August 27, 2015

'Love Like Lightning (Ten Stories of Love at First Sight)' by Ken Bachtold


Blurb:

LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT. DOES IT EXIST? OR IS IT JUST A LOVELY FANTASY? JUST ASK THE 10 MEN FEATURED IN THESE STORIES! 

For instance, take JOSHUA CRANDELL. 
He was very surprised. Afterward, he could never quite explain what, after many years, had prompted him to turn right into the gay bar. After many failed relationships, he'd virtually given up on ever finding the romance, actually love long-lasting. 
The one man sitting alone at the bar glanced at him, his well-shaped head only slightly turned. Josh was stunned. There sat the most beautiful man he'd ever seen. 
The fellow smiled slightly and very slowly turned his barstool fully around facing Josh directly for a moment. With an involuntary intake of breath Josh saw that the right side of that beautiful face was badly scarred. Josh protested in his head that he wasn't that kind of guy. He stepped forward and purposely crossed to the right side stool and sat down next to this man. 
"Hi," he said. "I'm Josh. Or Joshua, if you insist on formality," he quipped. 
"What? You want to talk to the poor disfigured guy, pat yourself on the back and then leave, having done your good deed?" 
"Look," Josh said, "Let's start over. Hi, my name's Josh." 
He held out his hand to shake. In return he got a look that was still suspicious. But after a time, the guy said, "I'm Andrew, or Andy, if you want to be less formal." 
He slowly and, obviously, reluctantly, held out his hand. Their touch was electric.

http://amzn.to/1PwGnHM



About the author:

BA & MA from San Francisco State University in Theatre (Acting and Directing) with a minor in Art.

My latest book (All By Myself) was just published by Dreamspinner Press and can be found on Amazon. This followed Dreamspinner’s publication of my last two novels (Seeing The Same Blue and Blue Valentine Blues).

Before that, Outskirts Press published Love Like Lightning – Ten Stories Of Love At First Sight, also on Amazon.

My original play, Starting Over (which I also directed), was just staged as part of the Ninth Annual Fresh Fruit Festival here in New York. Audience reaction was terrific. It was one of nine plays accepted out of 60 submitted. It was an MM romance. The blurb in the brochure for the festival read, "A play about love and loss. Griff has recently lost his longtime partner. Can he find happiness with Ben, the new neighbor down the hall. Supported by his sister and opposed by his widowed mother, now remarried to a homophobic preacher."

I've also written 5 musicals, book, music and lyrics.

Saloon (loosely suggested by the old melodrama The Drunkard) which opened The Gatetway Dinner Theatre in New Jersey to great reviews. It was subsequently optioned by Broadway producer Jerry Schloschberg (who, at the time was, producing the revival of On The Town with Bernadette Peters), but a show sluggishly following the old material opened and closed the same night and he backed off thinking there was now a "stigma" on the material.

The Facts Of Life (a musical about War, Prejudice and Aging, circa the ‘60s) was written at the BMI Music Workshop taught by Broadway orchestra leader Lyman Engle after several auditions before acceptance in the class. It was deemed worthy of a staged reading there.

Boo!, based on the old gothic novel The Castle Spectre was done by several regional theatres.

I was hired to doctor a musical based on Ephigenia At Aulis, called The Winds Of Aulis. I changed the name to Delimma! and wrote a subplot and mostly new lyrics. Although the play was fully backed, it never reached production and I never found out why.

I’ve written and staged numerous night club and cabaret acts and taught singing for the musical stage for 15 years.

http://amzn.to/1PwDQ0i

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

'Blue Valentine Blues' by Ken Bachtold


Blurb:

When Josh put a blue valentine in the class box for Bobby Prentice in fifth grade, he just wanted to show how much he appreciated his best friend. Years later, both the ridicule he suffered and his unrequited feelings for Bobby have followed him to the university where they both teach. Bobby would like to say many things to his friend, but he doesn’t know if he can find the courage in himself that he admires in Josh.

A part of the "A Valentine Rainbow" set of 14 holiday stories.

http://amzn.to/1PwGnHM



About the author:

BA & MA from San Francisco State University in Theatre (Acting and Directing) with a minor in Art.

My latest book (All By Myself) was just published by Dreamspinner Press and can be found on Amazon. This followed Dreamspinner’s publication of my last two novels (Seeing The Same Blue and Blue Valentine Blues).

Before that, Outskirts Press published Love Like Lightning – Ten Stories Of Love At First Sight, also on Amazon.

My original play, Starting Over (which I also directed), was just staged as part of the Ninth Annual Fresh Fruit Festival here in New York. Audience reaction was terrific. It was one of nine plays accepted out of 60 submitted. It was an MM romance. The blurb in the brochure for the festival read, "A play about love and loss. Griff has recently lost his longtime partner. Can he find happiness with Ben, the new neighbor down the hall. Supported by his sister and opposed by his widowed mother, now remarried to a homophobic preacher."

I've also written 5 musicals, book, music and lyrics.

Saloon (loosely suggested by the old melodrama The Drunkard) which opened The Gatetway Dinner Theatre in New Jersey to great reviews. It was subsequently optioned by Broadway producer Jerry Schloschberg (who, at the time was, producing the revival of On The Town with Bernadette Peters), but a show sluggishly following the old material opened and closed the same night and he backed off thinking there was now a "stigma" on the material.

The Facts Of Life (a musical about War, Prejudice and Aging, circa the ‘60s) was written at the BMI Music Workshop taught by Broadway orchestra leader Lyman Engle after several auditions before acceptance in the class. It was deemed worthy of a staged reading there.

Boo!, based on the old gothic novel The Castle Spectre was done by several regional theatres.

I was hired to doctor a musical based on Ephigenia At Aulis, called The Winds Of Aulis. I changed the name to Delimma! and wrote a subplot and mostly new lyrics. Although the play was fully backed, it never reached production and I never found out why.
I’ve written and staged numerous night club and cabaret acts and taught singing for the musical stage for 15 years.

http://amzn.to/1PwDQ0i

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

'Immortal Love (Book 1 Werewolf Alpha Romance)' by Madison Hart


Blurb: 

Anthony led a normal life, spending his days working in a mill as a logger, cutting down trees and drinking beers after work with his friends. That is until one day he was left alone in the woods and was attacked by a fearsome wolf, but not just any wolf. The wolf that bit him was a werewolf and now Anthony finds himself awakened in a strange place, surrounded by people he doesn’t know, without any signs of the wolf’s attack anywhere on his body. He’s told that he is now a werewolf and Anthony begins a new life as an immortal, finding solace in a beautiful woman named Julia by day but by night forced to meet his new fate and become the pack’s new Alpha leader. Anthony finds himself torn between following the ancient laws and falling in love with Julia.

http://amzn.to/1KLrrBT

About the author:
Madison Hart is a thirty-something that lives in Florida with her husband and two dogs. She is a long time reader of romance and sci-fi and decided to try her hand at both. She loves hearing from readers and wants to know what people think of her work.

'Seeing the Same Blue' by Ken Bachtold


Blurb:

Dustin “Dusty” Rhoades isn’t looking for a relationship. He’s tried them before, with disastrous results, and decided he’s better off on his own. So he focuses on his professional life as a landscape architect.

Cliff Benson is convinced he can’t have the relationship he wants. His father is as homophobic as he is wealthy, and has made it perfectly clear he expects Cliff to get married. Dutifully, Cliff proposes to society girl Alyson, works in his father’s law firm, and accepts that he has nowhere to turn.

When Dusty meets Cliff at his engagement party, the attraction is strong and instantaneous, but when Dusty admits his feelings, Cliff backs off. Dusty suggests they proceed as friends, but they are too drawn to each other. Just as they both finally agree they want more, Alyson’s suspicious brother outs them, risking everything Dusty has worked for.

http://amzn.to/1PwGnHM



About the author:

BA & MA from San Francisco State University in Theatre (Acting and Directing) with a minor in Art.

My latest book (All By Myself) was just published by Dreamspinner Press and can be found on Amazon. This followed Dreamspinner’s publication of my last two novels (Seeing The Same Blue and Blue Valentine Blues).

Before that, Outskirts Press published Love Like Lightning – Ten Stories Of Love At First Sight, also on Amazon.

My original play, Starting Over (which I also directed), was just staged as part of the Ninth Annual Fresh Fruit Festival here in New York. Audience reaction was terrific. It was one of nine plays accepted out of 60 submitted. It was an MM romance. The blurb in the brochure for the festival read, "A play about love and loss. Griff has recently lost his longtime partner. Can he find happiness with Ben, the new neighbor down the hall. Supported by his sister and opposed by his widowed mother, now remarried to a homophobic preacher."

I've also written 5 musicals, book, music and lyrics.

Saloon (loosely suggested by the old melodrama The Drunkard) which opened The Gatetway Dinner Theatre in New Jersey to great reviews. It was subsequently optioned by Broadway producer Jerry Schloschberg (who, at the time was, producing the revival of On The Town with Bernadette Peters), but a show sluggishly following the old material opened and closed the same night and he backed off thinking there was now a "stigma" on the material.

The Facts Of Life (a musical about War, Prejudice and Aging, circa the ‘60s) was written at the BMI Music Workshop taught by Broadway orchestra leader Lyman Engle after several auditions before acceptance in the class. It was deemed worthy of a staged reading there.

Boo!, based on the old gothic novel The Castle Spectre was done by several regional theatres.

I was hired to doctor a musical based on Ephigenia At Aulis, called The Winds Of Aulis. I changed the name to Delimma! and wrote a subplot and mostly new lyrics. Although the play was fully backed, it never reached production and I never found out why.
I’ve written and staged numerous night club and cabaret acts and taught singing for the musical stage for 15 years.

http://amzn.to/1PwDQ0i

'Claiming Crusher (Savage Brothers MC)' by Jordan Marie


Blurb:

I've claimed her... She's mine.

Crusher

The moment I saw her I knew I was in trouble. I just didn't care.
Once I knock down her walls and get a taste, I know she's it.
I'll have her and no one will get in my way----not even my club.
She's trying to run. That won't happen.
I'll use whatever I can just to keep her.
I'm an expert at making women give me what I want.
Dani just doesn't realize who she's dealing with yet.

She will.

Dani

I'm running.
I'm have secrets that will kill me someday. I need to stay ahead of them.
I run straight into his arms.
Zander's trouble. I know, because he sets my body on fire.
One taste of him and I keep going back, even when I shouldn't.
All I need is his body, his touch and his deliciously dirty mouth.
He's not mine to claim.
One more taste and I'll leave.

Before my past finds me...

http://amzn.to/1WFMxus


Monday, August 24, 2015

'All By Myself' by Ken Bachtold with Q&A


Blurb:

Mitch Donnelly and Grady Gilmore are two damaged souls. While walking in Central Park, novelist Mitch finds actor Grady in terrible distress, digging up the grass as if he can bury himself in the ground. After hearing the story of Grady’s long-time partner's betrayal, Mitch is afraid to leave him alone, so he invites him to stay in his spare room until he feels better. Mitch understands—he lost his first love in a car accident.

Upon Grady's arrival, Mitch is much happier and his writing improves. Grady, with Mitch's constant support, auditions and is cast as Iago in a production of Othello. Attraction slowly blossoms, but each man has been so terribly hurt in the past, both are afraid to act on it. With the encouragement of Emma Latimore, Mitch's outspoken landlady and friend, and constant chatter from a parakeet named Tweet, Mitch and Grady might find the courage to face their doubts and find a second chance at happiness.

http://amzn.to/1V7nC1o


What was the inspiration behind this book?
Often and idea or an opening paragraph comes into my mind while I’m doing something else (usually working out with weights or on my machines). That’s what happened with this book. I linked the title to an old 1920s Irving Berlin song, All By Myself (not the Celine Dion version). And the story just took off from there. I don’t outline, I just let the story and the characters unravel as they will. I worried about this, until I read somewhere that that’s exactly how Stephan King works, so I relaxed, and figured I was in excellent company!
To which character do you most relate?
As this story is in the first person (which is the style I feel most comfortable with) I identify with the main character, Mitch. But I have to let Grady’s feelings come out in subtle references (a glance, a frown, etc.) which Mitch interprets.
What is one of your favorite scenes?
I love the opening scene, of course. I usually do, because it is so vitally important to try and get the reader involved from the very first moment. Beyond that, I think I like the scene at the Party Store because they have so much fun clowning around. And, I could use the real Party Store on 14th Street because I’ve been there so often and can therefore, give the scene a true local. And, of course, the ending, second only to the opening in importance and it’s so tender and emotional – and most important happy! I hate sad endings in anything, i.e. movies, etc.

http://amzn.to/1PwDQ0i


About the author:

BA & MA from San Francisco State University in Theatre (Acting and Directing) with a minor in Art.

My latest book (All By Myself) was just published by Dreamspinner Press and can be found on Amazon. This followed Dreamspinner’s publication of my last two novels (Seeing The Same Blue and Blue Valentine Blues).

Before that, Outskirts Press published Love Like Lightning – Ten Stories Of Love At First Sight, also on Amazon.

My original play, Starting Over (which I also directed), was just staged as part of the Ninth Annual Fresh Fruit Festival here in New York. Audience reaction was terrific. It was one of nine plays accepted out of 60 submitted. It was an MM romance. The blurb in the brochure for the festival read, "A play about love and loss. Griff has recently lost his longtime partner. Can he find happiness with Ben, the new neighbor down the hall. Supported by his sister and opposed by his widowed mother, now remarried to a homophobic preacher."

I've also written 5 musicals, book, music and lyrics.

Saloon (loosely suggested by the old melodrama The Drunkard) which opened The Gatetway Dinner Theatre in New Jersey to great reviews. It was subsequently optioned by Broadway producer Jerry Schloschberg (who, at the time was, producing the revival of On The Town with Bernadette Peters), but a show sluggishly following the old material opened and closed the same night and he backed off thinking there was now a "stigma" on the material.

The Facts Of Life (a musical about War, Prejudice and Aging, circa the ‘60s) was written at the BMI Music Workshop taught by Broadway orchestra leader Lyman Engle after several auditions before acceptance in the class. It was deemed worthy of a staged reading there.

Boo!, based on the old gothic novel The Castle Spectre was done by several regional theatres.

I was hired to doctor a musical based on Ephigenia At Aulis, called The Winds Of Aulis. I changed the name to Delimma! and wrote a subplot and mostly new lyrics. Although the play was fully backed, it never reached production and I never found out why.

I’ve written and staged numerous night club and cabaret acts and taught singing for the musical stage for 15 years.

Sunday, August 23, 2015

'A Question of Obsession (Of Grace and Sin)' by Leo Angelo & Austin Briggs


Blurb:

In this first book of "Of Grace and Sin" series, Misha finds his one true love -- and fights to save both of their lives.

Misha Sokolov (ex-soldier, successful banker, divorced, and lonely) meets Sayuri Saito, elegant, intelligent, driven, and recently separated from her husband. Infatuated, he invites her for a vacation in Hong Kong, where he woos her amidst the sights and smells of that island.

Meanwhile, Misha uncovers a criminal scheme to defraud his bank. As he gets closer to the truth, his life is threatened, and soon Sayuri's life as well. But is the enemy that Misha chases real?

The book has some steamy situations and is intended for adults.

Buy links

About Author Austin Briggs

Austin Briggs has always been obsessed with learning about other cultures; he has lived in Russia, Japan, England, Switzerland, Cambodia, Lithuania, and Uzbekistan.

He has been a soldier in the army, an officer in the United Nations, and a global manager in a Fortune 10 company. He has been both a local and an outsider, a member of the majority and of a minority, which he feels makes him able to write from the perspective of multiple characters, all of whom have various levels of status and acceptance in their world.

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

#KindleCountdown 'Chasing Lightning' by Rachel York


Blurb:

Scarlett Faye Turner belongs to a generation of women undone by love – a fate she intends to escape. When she isn’t mouthing off and shocking everyone in the backward river town of Dillinger, Pennsylvania, Scarlett has her nose buried in a book dreaming of a life far away where fame and money can keep her safe from the bogeymen of her childhood and the consequences of following her heart. Scarlett believes falling in love makes you as crazy as her neighbor who chases after thunderstorms with her camera. She is positive no one in their right mind would risk being struck by lightning any more than they would by love.

But all that resolve quickly crumbles when seductive Gina Jamison shows up Scarlett’s senior year and knocks her heart sideways. Their improbable meeting and steamy love affair starts Scarlett on a journey that will take her across the years and through a succession of lovers…from a women’s college in West Virginia to the magical desert of New Mexico to the sexual liberation of Paris in the 1960s…from the arms of a woman she can never forget to the depths of her own soul and a painful realization that promises to transform her completely.

Read a sample chapter:

Gina was waiting for Scarlett behind the high school auditorium in her sister’s red Mustang convertible. Shiny new with white leather seats, it was the prettiest car Scarlett had ever seen. “Well, come on. What are you waiting for? Let’s go,” said Gina. “Get in.”
Scarlett got in and ran her hand over the leather seats. “Jeez. I’ve never been in a convertible before. It’s beautiful.”
“Yeah, I know. I wish it were mine.”
“How come your sister’s letting you use it?”
“She doesn’t know. She’s away for the weekend so I just borrowed it. I know where she keeps the extra keys. It’s brand new, you know?”
“Yeah. I can tell,” said Scarlett, still admiring everything about it, including the shiny chrome on the gearshift and steering wheel.
“Well, where should we go?” asked Gina, driving off down . “Before the boys spot us in this hot, new car.”
Just about the second that pronouncement left Gina’s lips, Scarlett spotted Skeeter and his buddies in Buford Sales’ l955 Chevy Belair turning off on to . Apparently, her mother either hadn’t found him or hadn’t talked him into going back to the house with her.
“Shit!” exclaimed Scarlett. “That’s Skeeter Boyd in that Chevy.”
“So?” said Gina.
“I didn’t get a chance to call off our date.”
“No problem,” said Gina and she floorboarded the Mustang, burning rubber all the way down .
Buford Sales’ souped-up Chevy took off after them but Gina managed to ditch Buford and the boys by driving down an alley. She pulled over and turned off the engine until the Chevy’s lights flew past.
“Looks like the pussy posse’s going in the wrong direction,” said Gina.
They both laughed. It was sure enough true. That posse was headed for the city dump faster than the speed of light. If they didn’t find the girls, at least they’d have a place to dump all those hormones.
“Maybe we should go down by the river,” suggested Scarlett. “I know Buford doesn’t like to get his car dirty.”
“Neither does my sister. But we can always wash it afterwards. Right?”
“Right,” said Scarlett. “I’ll help you.”
Gina started up the car and drove toward the river. It was a beautiful night. A breeze kicked up from the south blowing a coolness across the countryside. It was the absolute perfect moment for a convertible ride down by the river. Magic rode the road and Gina was driving.
“Turn off at the next left,” said Scarlett. “It’ll take us down to a spot I know.”
Gina slowed down and made the turn. The road was a little bumpy but not enough to discourage them from going to their decided destination.
“Remember this song?” asked Gina.
“Yeah. I remember,” said Scarlett loudly. “Dream Lover.”
Gina turned down the radio. “When it was popular, I had a big crush on Hans Van Prittwitz. Silly name, huh?” she paused and explained. “My dad was stationed in then.”
Scarlett and Gina got quiet and listened to the rest of the song. The grass was getting tall from its spring spurt and swayed gently in the wind on either side of the road.
“Over there,” said Scarlett pointing. “It’s the old boathouse.”
Gina pulled the car up behind the building and turned off the engine. “Okay. Now what?”
“Let’s go out on the wharf,” said Scarlett, sensing Gina’s eyes on her. “You can feel the river breeze there.”
The two new friends got out of the car and made their way to the wharf with the help of a small flashlight that was in the Mustang. They sat down and hung their legs over the edge. The breeze was blowing pretty good now and picking up more coolness off the river.
“Thanks for asking me along,” said Scarlett. “I didn’t really want to spend the evening with Skeeter.”
“I know,” said Gina, sliding out of her shoes and sticking her toes in the water. “Have you fucked him yet?”
Gina’s abruptness stunned Scarlett. She was suddenly uncomfortable and didn’t know what to do but look up at the moon. “Well?” prodded Gina.
“Well,” stalled Scarlett. She wondered if she dare tell her new friend the truth. After a few more seconds of edgy silence, she decided she would. “Yes,” she said. “A couple of times.”
“Did you like it?”
“Not really. But a friend of mine told me that was because he wasn’t the right one,” said Scarlett. “What about you? Have you done it?”
“In . . ,” said Gina with a twinkle in her eye. “Just about everywhere my dad was stationed the last four years.”
“You started young,” observed an amazed Scarlett.
“Yeah,” mused Gina. “I guess I did.”
With that they both fell silent and felt the night. Scarlett couldn’t believe how comfortable she was with Gina. She barely knew her yet they were already sharing secrets.
“A friend of mine drowned in a river like this one,” said Gina. “In .”
“Yeah?” said Scarlett. “I lost a couple of my friends that way too. Right here, Norma and June. A freak current. They never found them. It was terrible.”
“I’m sorry,” commiserated Gina and she patted Scarlett on the back.
The big old fib had just sort of tumbled out of Scarlett’s mouth and now she didn’t know how to tell Gina it wasn’t so. She decided she better keep her mouth shut. If she told the truth now, it might sound like she had been poking fun at Gina’s poor friend over there in . To try and feel better about what she said, Scarlett rationalized her behavior. After all, June and Norma were at the bottom of the Monongahela. There was no doubt about that. They were down there trapped between the pages of a thrift shop book. So what if she had left out a detail or two.
“No more drowning talk. Okay?” said Gina. “It’ll just make us sad.”
“Okay,” said Scarlett, wondering who died in that far away river. There had been pain in Gina’s voice.
“How about a little pot?”
“A little what!” exclaimed Scarlett.
“You know, marijuana. I’ve got a joint in my purse.” Gina took out a square, compact mirror and flicked it open. Inside was a row of hand-rolled marijuana cigarettes.
“I don’t know,” said Scarlett. “I hear that stuff makes you crazy. That it’s just like smoking loco weed.”
“Not true,” Gina said softly, reassuringly, and lit one of the marijuana cigarettes with her lighter. She took a long breathy drag on it and handed it to Scarlett.
“I don’t smoke,” said Scarlett.
“This is different. Just inhale it and hold it as long as you can.”
Not wanting to displease her new friend, Scarlett took the joint and drew in the smoke. She immediately started coughing.
“No. Not like that,” said Gina and took the cigarette back from Scarlett. She inhaled on the joint and leaned over to Scarlett who reflexively leaned back, away from her. “Well, come here. How am I going to blow smoke down your throat if you’re way over there?”
Scarlett hesitated again and then obeyed. She leaned forward as Gina inhaled again.
“Open your mouth,” said Gina and she moved as close to Scarlett as one human being can come to another without kissing them and slowly blew the smoke into her mouth. “Hold it,” she directed, “as long as you can.”
Scarlett counted to ten and then she just had to exhale. The smoke tickled the back of her throat.
“Good,” smiled Gina approvingly. “You’ll feel that real soon.”
It was true. In no time at all Scarlett felt herself relax and the world around her change. The river sounds became louder and richer, the rustle of reeds along the shore more rhythmic and musical. Even her skin felt different. She felt every pore open as a breeze blew across her body.
“How do you feel?” asked Gina.
“Good, I think,” answered Scarlett.
“Well, let’s see if we can take the doubt completely out of it.”
Gina inhaled once again and blew her breath into Scarlett’s mouth, brushing her lips ever so slightly up against Scarlett’s as she did. Scarlett recoiled and felt herself begin to burn inside. Unsure of what to do, she turned away from Gina and looked up at the sky where the little sliver of a moon grew incandescent and the stars brilliant beyond bearing.
“How about another hit?” said Gina, holding up the joint. That twinkle was back in her eyes.
“Cool,” said Scarlett, trying to calm down and control the fire.
Gina leaned over to Scarlett and then suddenly pulled back. “Whoops!” she giggled. “I almost forgot what I was going there for.” She put the joint to her red lips and drew in the smoke.
“Maybe you were going to kiss me,” said Scarlett with a boldness that surprised them both.
Gina smiled. “Maybe I was.”
As she turned back toward Scarlett, the mood was suddenly broken by the insistent backfiring of a l955 Chevrolet Belair. “Shit!” exclaimed Scarlett. “They’re here. The boys found us.”
Buford’s Chevy bounced across the road and came to stop along side Gina’s sister’s red Mustang convertible. All the guys jumped out and admired the car and started commenting, like boys do, on such things as horsepower and all that cam stuff. Skeeter got to Gina and Scarlett first.
“What happened to you?” Skeeter asked Scarlett. “We had a date.”
“Didn’t Boonie tell you to meet us here?” Scarlett replied, making up a name to buy time. “He was supposed to.”
“Who’s Boonie?”
“You know, that sort of silly looking new guy. The one who transferred to Dillinger High the same time Gina did.”
Skeeter looked confused, trying as he was to remember somebody who didn’t exist. Gina winked at Scarlett.
“Come on, big guy. Sit down and have a hit. There’s one here just for you.” Gina took a brand new joint out of her compact and handed it to Skeeter. He looked somewhere between dazed and delighted.
“I didn’t know you smoked grass, Scarlett?”
“I bet you there’s a few other things you don’t know either,” laughed Gina as she lit Skeeter a joint.
The other boys finally came out on the wharf and joined the party. “Hot damn!” yelled Buford. “I smell heaven.”


http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NBH5A0E/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00NBH5A0E&linkCode=as2&tag=andsboorev-20&linkId=RTXCZFGZ37GQOZXK
On Kindle Countdown 8/19-8/23


Rave reviews!
Loved every paragraph of this book. Characters are brought to life with exquisitely sculpted phrasing. It felt like my soul was touched. ~ annika

I truly hope they cleanse the soul for mine sorely needs to be left out in the rain the tears of God. But as for this book it cleansed mine for a time at least. I haven't shed so many welcomed tears in a very long time. Bravo Rachel, I know it is I n words small praise but my mind could not find the words to share in my heart. ~ Thomas Cobb