Category: Another Regular Bud

Ryan Field New Backlist Releases

Ryan Field New Backlist Releases

I hate writing blog post titles like the one above, but if you know blogging it’s important to title and tag a post a certain way for search engines. I would rather have just titled this post “New Releases” and left it at that.

And here they are, as I’m getting the notifications from Amazon daily:

A Young Widow’s Promise link

This is a pg rated erotic romance with a straight female main character and a gay sub-plot. It’s a novella and I think it’s about 30,000 words. It’s also a civil war historical and the setting of the novel is something I researched in detail. It all takes place on the New Jersey/Delaware border, where at one time there was a prison that held confederate prisoners of war. Felecia, the main character, falls in love with a confederate solider after losing her husband and sons in the war. She’s also taken it upon herself to dig graves on the front lawn of her home for as many dead confederate prisoners of war as possible. I’m adding the blurb to this one because it’s very different from anything I’ve done before.

Blurb

Felecia Roundtree is thirty-seven years old, she’s already lost her husband in battle, and prays each morning her two young sons live to see another day. With her own two hands, she’s turned the front of her property at remote Locust Point, NJ, into a burial ground for unknown Confederate prisoners of war, hoping someone will return a kind gesture to her own loved ones. Then one morning in August, just after she has a vision of her dead husband, three Confederate prisoners of war turn up at her doorstep begging for mercy. One is near death; the other two aren’t much better. Though she’s reluctant at first to help the enemy, she offers them food and shelter, and then eventually begins the romance of her lifetime with a young old Confederate named Calvin. When she learns a deep dark secret about the other two Confederates, she’s not sure what to think. Felecia has no idea she’s even falling in love. Nor does she realize she’s preserving an important part of American History. But she’s true to her promise every step of the way.

Billabong Bang link A short erotic romance with a multi-race character.

Another Regular Bud link A short erotic romance sequel to A Regular Bud.

Babycakes link A short erotic romance set in Australia in the Daintree Forest that was once published by Alyson Books.

Bury It, Officer link A short erotic romance with a hint of light BDSM and shoe fetish. Also in a previously pubbed anthology edited by Cleis Press and Rachel Kramer Bussel.

Strawberries and Cream at the Plaza link This is a pg rated gay romance without a lot of sex. It was originally pubbed in a different version about ten years ago in an Alyson Books anthology. It is in no way associated with a m/m romance titled Strawberries and Cream. As you can see, this story was released a while ago, long before Strawberries and Cream was even a thought.

That Cowboy in the Window link  A short erotic romance with a gender bending twist, about a transgender who can actually pass as a woman without a single issue. The ending is happy, but not in the way most might expect.

That’s it for now. All of the above titles are on Amazon for .99, and will be for at least the next three months.

You Never Know How Things Will Work Out in Publishing


In this post, I talked about how I was having cover challenges with the new release of ANOTHER REGULAR BUD. Dawne Dominique, a talented cover artist with Loveyoudivine.com, created something wonderful, but I was afraid it would confuse readers.

So we opted to shelve the wonderful cover she created and we went with something more like the cover for A REGULAR BUD instead.

And last night the light bulb went off in my head while I was submitting a new short story to loveyoudivine titled, BURY IT, OFFICER. And I had that Ah-Ha moment I don’t get very often. The cover Dawne had created for ANOTHER REGULAR BUD that we’d shelved was absolutely perfect for my new short story, BURY IT, OFFICER. So I shot off an e-mail to see if we could still use it and she said I was in luck.

This almost never happens. I couldn’t have planned if I’d tried. And it’s one of the exciting things about publishing because you never really know what to expect and things are always happening by accident.

Another Regular Bud…Unpubbed Excerpt


I posted fast about ANOTHER REGULAR BUD last week, and wanted to share an unpublished excerpt.

For some reason, A REGULAR BUD has generated a lot of wonderful e-mail from readers. I appreciate them all because I’m not always certain what readers want. And with a story like A REGULAR BUD I can never really be certain unless I hear feedback.

This is why I wrote ANOTHER REGULAR BUD. It’s not a sequel in a planned series. I may never write another story like this again. But it does follow the high heel theme from the first story. One reader pointed out that there aren’t many stories out there that get into high heels for men. Another pointed out that if you google high heels for men you’ll come up almost empty handed. I did that and the reader was correct. The few sites that are up don’t really get into anything I got into in the short story.

This was an accident on my part. I just thought of a story I thought would be fun and wrote it. I wanted it to be a little campy, a little funny, and still have a certain amount of emotion. And I can’t tell you how happy I am to hear that it’s resonated with so many nice people out there. Keep in mind this is the unedited, raw version.

“What’s the story with those high heels in the backseat?” He asked, with his deep, raspy tone.

“I can’t believe you saw them,” I said. “I thought I threw them on the floor.”

He laughed. “Well, one landed the seat. I couldn’t help noticing it.” Then he slapped my ass hard. “What are they for?”

I took a quick breath, sorry I’d been so careless. “A Halloween costume I’m wearing this weekend. I’ve never done drag…I don’t do drag. This is a joke a friend talked me into doing. I’m going as a burlesque queen.” I felt the need to explain it in more detail, so he didn’t think I was into women’s clothes all the time. You never know.

“Put them on,” He said.

I sent him a glance. “Seriously. You want me to put them on right now?” I’d never done anything like this before with a man. I’d once worn a pair of black lace panties for a guy who was into that sort of thing, but never high heels, and never in a public place.

He nodded. “I think they’re hot. Take off your pants and just put the high heels on.” He was so excited about me wearing the high heels he released me, leaned through the back window, and pulled the high heels out of the backseat himself.

Release Day: Another Regular Bud


ANOTHER REGULAR BUD was just released today. This is a short story, not a novel, and it’s priced accordingly. All the product details are explained here on the publisher’s web site, and it can also be purchased at most popular web sites where e-books are sold.

If anyone has questions, please feel free to e-mail me in private. When it comes to erotic romance, I know how important the word discretion is. This is why I know I’ll never see most of my readers showing up for book readings and book events. You guys like to keep it on the down low, and I fully respect that. And your personal privacy is extremely important to me.

Release Date: ANOTHER REGULAR BUD


I just got word ANOTHER REGULAR BUD will be released July 22. This isn’t exactly a sequel to A REGULAR BUD, but the themes are the same.

Here’s an excerpt from line edits I just finished:

When I pulled into Bob’s service station, I
passed the gas pumps and parked head on
against one of the open garage doors. My legs
were sore, and my feet were pulsing. I’d just come
from football practice, and it was warmer than
usual for that time of year.
It wasn’t a serious football team, and I wasn’t
a serious football player. Just a group of guys I’d
know in college who liked to get together and toss
a ball around outside a gym after work. Though
I’d showered with the guys after practice, all I
wanted to do was go home and plop on the sofa.
But I’d been having troubles with the car, and
I didn’t want to let the situation get worse. It was
Another Regular Bud
2
the end of October, and I had a busy weekend
coming up and didn’t want to deal with car
problems.
Earlier that afternoon, I’d done something
extremely out of character: I’d stopped at a small
erotic boutique to pick up a pair of six-inch black
leather stilettos.
Though I’d never done drag before, my best
friend had talked me into going to a costume
party that Halloween weekend as one of the
characters from the movie Burlesque. Not any one
character in particular. I was just going for theme
this time.
I’d already ordered a sexy, slinky lace and
leather outfit from an erotic website and a short
blonde wig from another. A good female friend
was going to help with the make up and fake
fingernails. But I’d been worried about ordering
the high heels online and figured it was better to
go out and buy them in person to make sure they
fit well. I didn’t want to walk around in pain all
night. And to my surprise, the high heels I
bought fit almost as well and were almost as
comfortable as my old black boots, even with my
black socks.
RYAN FIELD
3
Before I turned off the ignition, I pulled off the
high heels and threw them in the back seat. The
saleswoman had warned me it was a good idea to
get used to them before I wore them that
weekend. So after football practice, I decided to
wear them on the drive home. When I pulled up
to red lights and stopped beside other cars, I
couldn’t help laughing at what they would have
done if they’d known the nice-looking, straightacting
guy in the car next to them was wearing
black six-inch stilettos.

Cover Challenges: ANOTHER Regular Bud


As I stated in a post on Monday, I’ve been going back and forth all week with the cover artist, Dawne Dominique, over at loveyoudivine.com, about the new cover for a new short story e-book titled, ANOTHER REGULAR BUD. If you haven’t seen Dawne’s work, please take the time to check it out. You will be extremely impressed.

I loved the first design she came up with. I can’t begin to let readers know how happy I am to be able to work with such talented, hard working people. But I was worried the first design would confuse readers. The first story, A REGULAR BUD, attracted certain readers and I want them to know the second story follows the same theme. This isn’t actually a series with the same characters, but the themes are the same. So I suggested a few things, Dawne listened, and we came up with this new cover.

I’m happy with this. I can’t thank Dawne enough for getting through this with me. And I will post more when the story is released.

Cover Challenges…And How Hard We Do Work For Quality


I thought I’d post this cover for my upcoming release, Another Regular Bud.

It’s only a draft so far, and for the first time in a long time I just didn’t think it worked. Don’t get me wrong. I love it and I think it’s a work of art. The cover artist nailed the suggestions I made. But I’m worried readers who’ve read A Regular Bud might not be attracted to it because it’s so different.

Why am I posting this? Because I’ve been reading on certain romance blogs about quality and how it’s so important to the publishing process. It is important. But frankly, it irritates me when one author, or a few bloggers, try to suggest they’ve cornered the market on quality e-books. And I wanted to show readers how much detail is spent working on just the covers alone at Loveyoudivine.com. We don’t take it lightly; we want everything to be as perfect as we can get it. And quality is one of the most important things we think about before releasing a book.

I hate being a pain in the ass with the cover artists. In fact, I never, ever, don’t like a cover I’m sent. But this time I just have this deep down feeling it’s not right, and we’re going to keep working on it until we get it right. Thankfully, the cover artist is far more talented in cover art than I’ll ever be. And I know she’ll come up with something similar to the first book, A Regular Bud, that keeps readers happy.

I’m not always one of those who believes a cover sells a book. But I do think there needs to be continuity when it comes to books that follow a certain theme so readers know what to expect. And the new story, Another Regular Bud, though completely different form A Regular Bud, does, indeed, follow the same theme. And I want readers to know this just by seeing the cover.

I’ll update this to let people know what’s been decided. We may even just make a few changes to this version.