Category: LGBT romance

Interview with Cat Johnson on Blogtalkradio…

To the right of this post, on the sidebar, there’s an interview with Cat Johnson, www.catjohnson.net, from www.allromanceebooks.com. Cat asked great questions, and I tried hard to answer them without talking too much and boring her to death. We talked about the Ravenousromance first anniversary, the Ravenousromance Escape to Romance Collection with The Home Shopping Network, and about e-books and romance in general.

There’s an interesting discussion about m/m fiction, and lgbt romance books. We talked about my titles, and why I write them. We even got into some of my work with other publishers, like www.loveyoudivine.com and Cleis Press. It’s only half hour interview, but I think we both covered a lot of topics in a short amount of time. And it was a pleasure talking with Cat and getting to know her better.

Relief for Haiti & New Release: VALLEY OF THE DUDES

First, I’m writing this in red not because it’s a link, but because it’s important. The people of Haiti need help, and they need it now. Here’s a link to a relief fund. Or go to any relief fund. Or just say a few prayers for them. Anything and everything helps right now. http://www.haitirelieffund.org/

VALLEY OF THE DUDES was just released today, and it’s longer than most of the m/m romances I’ve written for ravenousromance. I don’t remember exactly how long it is, but I think it’s somewhere between 60 and 65 thousand words. So with the sale now going on at full force at ravenousromance, it’s a great deal at $1.79.

I’ll post more about the book later. But here’s the back cover copy, which gives a pretty good idea of the storyline. In many ways, it follows some aspects of the plot of “Valley of the Dolls.” But because this story revolves around gay men, I had to make important changes that I hope readers will like. (Smile)

In this M/M adaptation of the classic novel Valley of the Dolls, an innocent young man named Rush Goodwin leaves behind his family, his longtime boyfriend, and the safety of his small New England town to find a new life that’s filled with glamour and excitement in New York City. Though he’s not sure exactly what he wants in life, he’s willing to take a few daring chances along the way to find out.

It doesn’t take long for him to make two new best friends, Cody and Anderson, who are just as young an innocent as he is when the story begins. The only difference between them and Rush is that they both have faithful partners and Rush is alone in New York. But that doesn’t last long. When Rush meets his new boss, handsome Lance Sharp, it’s love at first sight and the beginning of a turbulent relationship that is rarely without conflict.

While Rush and his friends are all moving forward and climbing their respective ladders of success, they each learn, in different ways, that nothing in life is perfect. Especially not the fame and fortune they thought they all wanted. And in order to deal with the stress of success, they all turn to drugs for comfort. And in time, this leads them all on a downward spiral that ruins their relationships and ultimately threatens their lives.

In the end, after suffering painful disappointments and serious setbacks that almost ruin him, Rush learns the true meaning of what life is all about for a gay man of his generation. And he does this without drugs and fame and fortune, with the help of true love and the one goal he never expected he could reach.

A New Cover for AMERICAN STAR

I noticed that they gave my book AMERICAN STAR II, a new cover. The transition hasn’t been complete yet and there are still old covers floating around, so I figured I’d put both up here to show the differences. The older one is on the left, and the newer one on the right.
This book is a romance, with a man and a woman, and a very happy ending. But it has a strong LGBT sub-plot, too. And the BT part of LGBT is where the focus lies. It’s also loosely based on the TV show, “American Idol.” All of my characters are fictional, and none are even loosely based on actual “American Idol” contestants. And yet one of the characters is almost identical to Adam Lambert. This was an accident. When I wrote the book, long before last season’s “American Idol” began, I had no idea there would ever be a contestnt like Adam Lambert on “American Idol.”
It’s interesting how these things happen by accident. I know other writers who say the same things happen to them. They write things that eventually come true. I wish I could predict lottery numbers this way.