Quick Tuesday Top-Up

Seems I missed the Monday Mumbling yesterday. Ooops. Having Friday afternoon off and all day Monday threw me off kilter. It was a super lazy weekend. Got some tidying up done, groceries and laundry and that's about it. Which is not a bad thing. Now if only someone would come and do my ironing I'd be happy.

I read a couple of longer books, I do seem to find myself reading like mad for a couple of weeks then blahing out for a week or so, then reading again. Maybe it's hormonal? Can't women blame everything on hormones? that works for me.

Uniform Appeal - DSP Anthology (300 pages)
Dreamspinner Press
on sale for $3.50 - about a cent a page - good value even if you only like half


This whole anthology revolves around stories featuring uniform wearing heroes. This includes fire fighters, police officers, soldiers and even a mailman. I can't go into detail of each one, there are too many, I've copied the table of contents below:

Chasing Jamie by Eric Arvin
Famished by Lou Harper
Delayed in San Diego by Pepper Espinoza
Hot Stuff by Maria Albert
Duty by Emily Moreton
Discovering Columbus by Shae Connor
Firehouse Flame by Paul Taylor
Sold! by K.R. Foster
Heat of the Moment by Dawn Douglas
Double Cross by Lesley Hastings
The Night Shift by Louise Blaydon
Jean-Paul by Ryan Loveless
Walk a Mile by G.R. Richards
Secrets and Lies by Jay Starre
The US Male by Lisa Worrall
Good Things Come… by Rowan McAllister

Like all anthologies, some will tickle your fancy and some less so. A couple of the ones that really caught my attention were: Famished, about a young man who purposely gets himself pulled over so that he can meet the hot motorcycle cop who pulled him over a few days ago, only he doesn't get a date, he gets a $175 ticket. Delayed in San Diego, about a young man going home to Utah after losing his savings in a bad investment, stuck at the airport due to weather, who meets a marine returning to Utah from Afghanistan. Heat of the Moment, about a doctor doing a 30 hour shift because of a bad building explosion, and the fire fighter brother of a badly injured fire fighter whose family shuts him out. The Night Shift, about a property clerk at the police station and the cop he strikes up a friendship with, and they dance around their attraction for months until an injury finally kick-starts them into a relationship. Jean-Paul, set in WWI Paris, a young man heading into battle questions his abilities and finds a young man in Paris to spend his last day with. (non-graphic m/f in this one but it fit). Good Things Come ..., about a fire fighter who wakes up very hungover, unsure what he did with a young art student who is NOT his type. His only thought is getting out of there fast, until he gets to know him, and maybe he might be his type if he opens his heart and mind. This last one was longer, a few chapters so you got to see the relationship develop more, even if it took place over about 24 hours.

So I'm sure there is something for everyone. A few historicals, all types of men in uniform and I have to confess, fire fighters are my fave, with police officers close behind. :-)

From Morocco to Paris by Lydia Nyx (320 pages)
Torquere Press

This story follows two couples, although you only get to see the one couple from the perspective of the main pair which was interesting. Zane wants to be a director but as taken the job of personal assistant to one of the stars Elliot in order to get his foot in the door. They seem to hang out with Davey, a costume assistant and Cristiano the costume designer. Zane is straight (he doesn't count those men he was in bed with), Elliot is in the closet as many actors are, Davey and Cristiano are out and proud. Zane is attracted to Davey, and tries to avoid it until eventually he gives in to Davey's pursuit. Meanwhile Elliot and Cristiano start up a relationship as well. The story starts in Morocco where they are filming, then goes to Cairo and eventually Paris. The parts about how awful it was filming in the desert were great. Hot and dirty and you felt it. Zane runs hot and cold with Davey. Pushing him away, apologising and doing it over again. When Zane's out brother Ian arrives to visit, and hits on Davey, things come to a head and Zane finally confesses to his brother that he's sleeping with Davey, but by then Davey has dumped him for his behaviour. Ian insists they pursue Davey and win him back and ... oh god. Ian was great, his idea of romantic meant Zane ends up with a broken nose. Zane had his reasons for not wanting to admit he was Davey's boyfriend (that was a BIG deal for him - "I'm not his boyfriend" - Honey, you're bare-backing, exclusive and sleeping together every night, you're his boyfriend). As a rule the hot and cold, I'm not gay or freak out if anyone finds out, characters make me nuts and I hate it, but for some reason the author made me understand why Zane did it and while I didn't agree, I wasn't so annoyed I wanted to stop reading. I think it helped that Davey didn't take too much crap and called him on the carpet, and was willing to leave him if he didn't change. He wasn't a door mat. The story-line with Cristiano and Elliot was kind of running along with it's own drama and I really hope there is a follow-up story of Ian, who couldn't understand why Zane was pushing away an amazing guy who loved him, something he'd give anything for, just because people would know he's gay. So despite my reservations about in-denial-Zane, I ended up really liking this one.

How a Dare Turns Into More

Well, way back in the day ... I don't remember when, someone who shall remain nameless but has curly red hair and lives in Perth, kind of dared/cajoled/encouraged me to write a story with a were-kanga. Then I may have gone onto other tangents writing stories that people said couldn't be done. A shifter who was a hamster, a villain who collected Chia Pets, three good friends on a vacation, a hero who knits and freaky GFY secret babies. :-) Along the way I dabbled in some other writing that has never seen the light of day.

So I screwed up my courage and sent something to a publisher a couple of weeks ago and ... ACK! The contract is signed the edits are done (I swear to god I'll learn to add more commas), and the publication date is set. Holy crap! I'm not ready. Someone write me a blurb!

It's just a little Sip at Torquere called Winterlude. Yes, it's set in frigid heart of winter, which seems rather odd to publish in June, but perhaps it will help cool off those who are starting to melt. It's also set in my city, but they don't spent much time out of doors. Who does when it's that cold? I don't have a finalized blurb or anything, but the main characters are Eric Johanson and Omar El-Alum and it's just a little story of two people meeting and seeing if there is the chance for something more. (No freaky were-animals this time.)

What else to say. Ummm. Eric has piercings and tats and blue in his hair, Omar is a tech guy with long hair, a French-Canadian mother and a Libyan father who works for the Department of Defense. So June 18, Winterlude will hit the web.

What this means for my reviews I'm not sure. At this point, one little story of a few thousand words I don't think means much, but I'm playing it by ear. The joy of not being a paid reviewer is I can do whatever I want. :-)

I want to thank everyone out there in cyberland who encouraged my flights of fancy. It's been great fun to create characters using someone else's parameters along with my own imagination. :-) I don't ever see myself doing this as a career, I don't want the pressure of HAVING to write something to pay the bills, but it's a fun pastime that keeps me amused and my brain flexible. Oh and if my kid still plans on going to school in the UK I'm going to need every extra cent I can squeeze out from wherever I can. Now I need to figure out that whole US withholding tax thing. Ugh.

The Werewolf in Red (A Sylver and Steele Story) by Mimi Riser

Because this story is too long for Brief Encounters Reviews where I reviewed parts one, and two of the series, I will be reviewing this installment here and then moving back to BER for number four.

Title: The Werewolf in Red (A Sylver and Steele Story)
Author: Mimi Riser
Length: 30,000 words (115 pdf pages)
Publisher: Amber Allure
Genre: m/m fantasy sci-fi paranormal (shifters, vampires)
Rating: B

Blurb:

Buckle up your seatbelts! Mismatched lovers Sylver Starr and Hunter Steele are back in a brand new adventure, and it’s going to be a very bumpy ride...

For starters, Sylver suspects Hunter is cheating on him. Again. Hunter, you see, is a cat-shifter, and we all know how tomcats are, right? They’re not famous for fidelity. Sylver, on the other hand, is a werewolf, faithful to the core. Wolves mate for life, for better or worse. Still, if it ends up the latter, and the worse gets bad enough... Well, hell, he’s a man, too, isn’t he? If Hunter’s doing him wrong, could anyone really blame Sylver for seeking a little extracurricular comfort? Especially since he knows just where to look for it.

Sylver’s not your average werewolf, after all. When he’s not wearing fur, you can usually find him in a dress. He used to be a professional drag queen, the star attraction of Philadelphia’s Red Banana Revue. Since marrying Hunter, however, Sylver has been a secret agent for Earth Guardians, Inc., Hunter being the founder and chief of that covert corps. But Sylver doesn’t much like playing secret agent. The hours suck, and people are always trying to kill him. It’s an excessively nerve-wracking gig. Given the choice, he’d much rather return to his first love—The Stage.

That’s how Sylver ends up in the “City of Brotherly Love”—without Hunter—for a night of gaudy décor and bawdy entertainment at Philly’s très gay answer to the Moulin Rouge. Maybe he’ll find solace by joining in the club’s grand finale cancan. If Hunter doesn’t find him first.

Meanwhile, there’s a megalomaniac vampire plotting to take over the world, a crazy countess with her own hidden agenda, a Plain Jane Cinderella who needs a fairy godmother (or four), and a basset hound-shifter butler who’s just met his predestined life-mate, but isn’t happy about it. Somehow, Sylver and Hunter must sort out their own problems while helping their friends—and saving the world, of course.

Did you ever have one of those nights?...

Review:

This book picks up a sometime later and Sylver and Hunter are still at it, fighting that is. When Hunter refuses to go with Sylver to Philadelphia and walks out on them, Sylver decides to go and visit his family alone, assuming Hunter is cheating yet again. However things are not quite as they seem. It seems that Hunter's multi-gazillion dollar empire is under financial attack by an ancient vampire, the original Dracula, who is determined to take over the world, literally. When he finds out that Dracula is after Sylver, Hunter rides to the rescue, sort of. He's finally forced to tell Sylver the truth, that he is broke and the Earth Guardians have been disbanded, which Sylver is fine with since he wanted to quit anyway.

I am pleased to see these stories taking on a slightly more serious feel. Sure, there is still lots of comical banter between Sylver and Hunter, and they both drive each other crazy, usually culminating in crazy hot sex, but the issues are no longer as over the top SyFy like attacking crocodile-human hybrids. The enemies seem to be more serious threats, and a few laser blasters no longer do the trick to save the world.

I thought the fight scenes were very well choreographed, even if Sylver's lack of focus during a battle is less than stellar. I also liked very much that Hunter seems to be a bit more soft and understanding of Sylver's position on some things, and gets it more what a relationship is really like. I nearly fainted along with Sylver when he heard that. :-)  It's a complex tale of vampire intrigue, where even once you've vanquished the bad guy, things may not be all sweetness and light. There is also a cute Cinderlla-esque side-story of the sister of Sylver's cousin's wife (does that make sense?) and Sylver's butler.

While I liked the first book okay, it seemed to just a little too "much". I like how the story has settled down and it's still retaining it's quirkiness, but taking on some other challenges in a more serious, if still bigger than life way. I'm looking forward to seeing how things go in the next installment.

Monday Mumbling ... What I've learned about myself reading m/m

Self analysis and therapy through reading.

Rather than focus on a genre or theme I like in m/m, this week got me thinking about things I've learned about myself by reading different types of books.

A) While in theory a May/December, March/November?, relationship doesn't bother me, hey more power to ya old dude, I've realized that at some point it squicks me out. When a 23 year old and a 50 year old hook up, permanently, I start thinking ... When boy A is my age *coughmid40scough*, his spouse will be ...... 75!!!!! Arrgghhhh *runs screaming visualizing being in a relationship with someone my Dad's age* I'm sure people can give me examples of cases where they know real-life people who have BTDT and were deliriously happy, but it's hard to enjoy a story when I keep thinking "Oh my god, oh my god, my Dad's age, oh my god". It would appear I'm not as tolerant as I thought I was on the age thing. 10-15 years I don't even blink, once it hits 20 I start to get jittery. (I should clarify, not that I would ever tell someone it's wrong, but it makes me doubt the long-term viability of the relationship.)

Okay okay, so the old guy is half-horse,
I couldn't find a good pic I liked.

B)  On a similar theme, but not so much age related is the "My son/daughter's friend" theme. Ugh. That is so Letters to Penthouse. Ick. Dating someone the same age as your kid? Fine. A friend of your kid's, their age? Noooooo.

Aren't they just cute as a button ...
and off limits if one is your kid!

C) My need to create a conflict free zone in my life seems to spill over into fiction. I just read something where the one guy seemed to take great delight in poking his potential life-partner with a sharp stick. (not literally because that would be weird) But the Latino guy would get all pissed off and throw a hissy fit and be upset and the other guy found it just amusing as hell and regularly said/did stuff (or didn't say stuff) just to get a reaction. It reallllllly made me uncomfortable. It made me not like the stick poker. Why would you WANT to make someone you supposedly care about or love angry? I spent many years of my life running around trying to control the outside world so I wouldn't have to deal with an angry spouse. It just triggered all sorts of "stuff" inside that made me feel kind of ookey, even though I enjoyed the book on the whole. Obviously I still have issues.

D) For years I have said, "I don't like scary books, I don't like horror, etc." When in reality I maybe do, a little bit. I like Dallas Coleman's books, because they are freaky and creepy but often not graphic. I know many people consider Jordan Castillo Prices' Wild Bill and Michael books to be horrorish (as opposed to whorish), but when some reviews would go "ooooh, it's really gross and freaky" I was kind of "eh". It was good, but I wasn't freaked out. Though as a rule I'd say I'm anti-slasher, anti-pain for fun (aka Saw movies). It needs a purpose I guess. Or maybe it was all those years of reading detective stories about serial killers that delighted in describing their crimes. I never considered that horror and yet I would never read a Stephen King because it's too scary. :-)

He looks kind of scary creepy,
although I've read an interview with him,
and he's not, seems rather pleasant on the whole.

So what has reading (m/m, m/f, any genre really) taught you about yourself, your beliefs, inner secrets you don't reveal to the world. We'll keep it just between us. No one will ever know.

Quick Sunday Update

Still having fun in Toronto, but we are off home this evening. Lots of shopping and walking, and stupid rain. A good friend of my daughter's came into the city and they got to spend the day together. Non-stop talking. :-)

Strangely after I added these pics I noticed how similar they are, shades of blue, naked man torso, another item in the pictures. And it wasn't that I chose two similar books since I read the second one a couple of weeks ago and had lost track of it.

The Trouble with Angel by JM Cartwright (222 pages)
Torquere Press

Angel has fought his way out of East LA. He's now a fashionista who works for an entertainment agent. When his boss has other commitments she sends him to help out client Brandon, a pro baseball player. Angel has always found Brandon attractive, but Brandon comes across as arrogant and aloof and straight. Brandon's a bit freaked out when Angel shows up and starts acting weird and all sort of flirty, and he won't tell Angel what is going on. Soon Angel finds out that Brandon has been given custody of his old coach's grandchildren whose parents had died just before he did. Brandon has decided that being in a couple would be a good idea, he intended to pretend it was Angel's boss, but suddenly casts Angel in the role of spouse, much to Angel's dismay. His boss also approves him working for Brandon for as long as he wants, and before long Brandon's confessing to being gay and has whisked Angel and the two kids (9 and 6) up to Oregon to a rundown old house in the country. Angel is pissed (as he well should be) but can't seem to resist when Brandon makes the moves. I had a few issues, one, getting kids who have just lost their parents attached to a pretend person is NOT smart. Of course they live HEA, it's a romance, but that was the stupidest thing ever. And Brandon took great delight in goading Angel to lose his Latin temper, which pissed me off to no end as well. On the upside, I think their struggles to figure out how to be parents of a sort to the kids was good, I liked Angel a lot and even Brandon had his moments (we'll discuss this more tomorrow :-), and I stayed up way too late reading it, so it definitely sucked me in. I loved Angel's mom when she showed up and the local vintner who seemed to rub Angel the wrong way. So there is lots to enjoy here and some of the things that bugged me others will probably find amusing and cute. Ah, personal taste. Still it was a good read.

Surviving the Change by Cari Z (122 pages)

Total-e-Bound

Blythe is a student who works nights in a bar to support himself. It's a shifter bar and he hasn't much use for shifters but it pays the bills. One night a new wolf shows up and decides to follow him home. He is NOT impressed and even though Dan is flirty and non-threatening, Blythe is not interested. However there are two rival packs in town (not all wolves, Dan's friend the one alpha is a lion and the rival alpha is a snake). Dan offers to fix Blythe's car in exchange for space on the couch as he's kind of homeless. They become friends but Blythe doesn't give in. You do eventually find out that Blythe had his reasons for being anti-shifter, it wasn't just to be contrary. There are problems though. As an unbonded male, Dan can't stick around too long as packs see him as a threat, however Blythe isn't coming around as quickly as would be useful to allow him to stay around. After a fight breaks out between the two groups at the bar and Dan saves Blythe but injures himself, Blythe finally gets with the problem, but when Dan kills the rival alpha's brother saving Blythe, Dan gives himself up to save Blythe, leading Blythe to band together with the good alpha to get Dan back, although they are nearly too late. I think those who enjoy shifter stores (aka me) will enjoy this. It started out kind of slow (not in a negative way) but with you getting to know Blythe and Dan and them becoming kind of friends and then flips into high gear once the other pack goes on the attack and Blythe has to make a stand. So if you like furry boys, a good read.

Toronto Part 2

Well, my business part of the trip is over. Sat in on some good seminars, met some interesting companies and had a chance to talk with my colleagues from Mexico to New Brunswick and everywhere in the middle.

Today my daughter came on the train and I picked her up and we went out for dinner. I think she missed me because once I got her fed she started talking and didn't stop for about 2 hours. Just sat on the hotel bed and talked my ear off. :-) Tomorrow a good friend of hers she met at riding camp a few years ago is coming into the city and we are going to meet at the big mall and they will giggle and hang out. I guess I'll be relegated to hanging with the Mom. I've met her but don't really know her.

So Tuesday night I had two receptions to attend. The first was hosted by Atlantic Canada and it was held at the Hockey Hall of Fame which was very cool. I've never been there and it's quite small so we had the run of the whole museum. That was fun. This guy was a chef from Nova Scotia who explained lobster aquaculture to us, how to know which lobster is a boy or a girl and a demonstration of mating using cooked lobster. 0_0

For Stephani Hecht, the Red Wings Fan.

Who the hell knew the Australians had an ice hockey team?

Then we raced over to another reception hosted by the Niagara region. They had great food as well and it was held on the 35th floor of an office tower and the view was amazing. You could see right out to Lake Ontario and see the CN Tower. I was really impressed.

Then with very sore feet I trudged back to my hotel which was only a few blocks from the CN Tower. On the way back I found this chair in a store in the tunnels. It's a bit large to send to Kris, but I thought of her when I saw it. It was kind of cool and red.

Hopefully it won't rain as much as they are predicting. Of course it was nice all week and now rain. Sigh. We head back to the airport at 4:00 Sunday. Have a great weekend everyone.

It's Fight Club time again.

Only this time it's my kidlet up against the "singer" known as Rebecca Black. Click on the graphic below and stop by and lend her your votes and/or leave a comment.

Toronto

So, I haven't been around much. I'm in Toronto for work so am busy most of the day. Monday night I walked around and ended up at the giant bookstore they have downtown. It's one of the few places they have a rather large GLBT fiction section. I looked for books by people I "know", there were a few and I found these ones had a rather large selection in particular.

 Most of the KA Mitchell oeuvre.

Charlie Cochrane's Lessons series.

Several books by Ally Blue

There were a few other individual books by authors I've read. It's kind of nice to see them not tucked away in an obscure bookstore somewhere by right there one shelf over from the traditional romance. Although across the aisle from the erotica and it felt kind of weird that I was there next to two men in their 70's browsing the erotica section. Awkward.

Also saw a young man on the street asking for a cigarette who then loudly declared he would give a blow job for a cigarette. Almost wished I'd smoked. I would have offered him a cigarette if he'd let me watch him give someone a blow job. LOL

Yesterday I had my big meeting all day and I was really pleased with how it went. Lots of good discussion, my speakers were all excellent and inspired conversations and then some other people joined us at the end of the day and people were just talking and talking. So a good meeting. Oh and I managed to get the projector and computer running without having to call my help desk back home. :-) Go me.

That's about it. I went for a walk down to the CN Tower last evening. It was also a Blue Jays baseball game so there were tons of people heading to the stadium. If you look at the pic above the white glowing dome is the stadium. They are both 10 min. walk from my hotel. I was hoping there would be a baseball game this weekend when my daughter is here we could go to. I've never been to a pro baseball game but of course they only have away games this weekend. Grrr.

I haven't really gone out to eat. I hate eating alone in a restaurant so I grabbed a piece of pizza the other night and last night I grabbed a sausage from a cart by the CN Tower. I wasn't that hungry anyway as we'd gone out for a good lunch. Today I am hitting a food trade show and have to meet some people and have two receptions later tonight. A bit of a crazy night with two events the same night, but what can you do.

So there is my Toronto update. Kind of boring, but then work often is. :-) Have a great week all.

Monday Mumbling ... Are you sure your hand is supposed to be THERE!?

So I won't say I'm a "fan" of fisting but I've read some scenes that seemed to work okay for me. I'll be honest, before I read m/m, fisting was some kind of ethereal urban legend. I'd never run across it in any of the PNR I'd been reading and certainly not in my bodice-ripper days of my youth.(I'm not even sure those women gave blow jobs back then.) I think I was a bit "surprised" the first time it cropped up and I may have only been reading with one eye. Then later I went back and read it with both eyes and ... well, I could see the appeal for both parties, despite possible ouchies. So these are a couple of the books I've read where it worked okay for me. Feel free to share your own favourites or your opinion on the practice (in fiction ;-). Do you refuse to read anything with more than 3 fingers involved in the nether regions? 

So this was rather like flinging myself into the deep end. I think it was my first m/m/m and twincest to boot. Oh wait, fisting. Ack! However Chris Owen is one of my favourite authors and I confess this is an often reread for me. What can I say, I like the pervy stuff.

Given that I like Chris Owen, stands to reason I'd like Drew Zachary. In Loving the Rain (stupidest cover ever) two normal young guys (in my city) suddenly decide on some fisting one night. Umm. Okay. Anyway, I liked the short so much it didn't throw me off but it was kind out of the blue which Kassa addressed on post.

 Ally pulled in a bit of Crisco realism and humour into her scenes in Where the Heart Is. It probably fit more than it did in the previous book as there was the whole D/s thing going which seems to go hand in hand (HAHAHAHAHA) with fisting. 






These are the only ones I can think of off hand. As I noted, it's not something I've heard of it m/f romance, but maybe I just don't read the right books. :-) I don't go searching them out m/m though. I know there was a book lately that had a fisting scene on the side of the road with no lube. Ack! At least these put the emphasis on prep, not just ram it up there. I think this is one of those practices for me that I can enjoy in fiction on the page, but am happy to have it stay here.

NSFW Thank you cookies!

Thanks to everyone who voted for me in the smack-down with Paula Deen. Thanks to you y'all and my own mad clicking skills I soundly trounced the old broad and as promised, here is your NSFW (and SFW) thanks. Huh. Just noticed I seem to have a mostly torso theme going. Oh well, loves me some sexy torsos.

You can see my results by clicking on the logo again.

Have a super Sunday.

 

 You can never have too many naked pics of Levi.