Meredith Shayne

Cutting Out: Extended Edition is Coming Soon

Well, it’s been a while, chooks, since I have posted here and also since I have had a new release. But I am happy to report that the novel-length version of Cutting Out now has its very own Coming Soon page at Bottom Drawer Publications, and a release date – it will go live on October 11th, not even 2 weeks from today.

Those of you following along at home will know that Cutting Out originated in short story form in the Blokes in Love anthology, that was released at the end of last year to commemorate the very first Southern Hemisphere M/M writers and readers meetup. Since that time it has been substantially expanded, going from a 13,500-word short story to a 78,000-word novel. The short dropped you right in the middle of Shane and Lachie’s relationship; the novel gives you the lead-up to it as well.

For those who don’t want to click through to the link (there will be an excerpt up on the publisher page soon, but given I am still neck-deep in galley proofs for it, that day is not today), here is a peek at the cover, and also the blurb. Please enjoy:

A twenty-year veteran of the shearing shed, Aussie Shane Cooper loves his job, and the home he’s made for himself in New Zealand. If he’s a little lonely, he’s got good mates to keep his spirits up. When a hot, cocky young shearer named Lachlan Moore catches his eye at a competition, he’s content to look but not touch, knowing the young man is out of his league.

 Lachie wouldn’t mind a piece of Shane, but the gorgeous gun shearer from Australia is soon forgotten when the Christchurch earthquake hits, and tragedy strikes Lachie’s family. Lachie deals with it the best he can, cutting himself off from all he knows. A year later and he’s back in the shearing shed, out of practice and lacking confidence. That Shane’s there to watch him flounder doesn’t help his nerves.

 As Lachlan struggles to re-acclimatise, Shane can’t resist giving him a hand to get back on his feet. As they move from friends to something more, Shane finds himself wanting to know everything he can about Lachie. But Lachie’s got secrets he desperately wants to keep, and when things come to a head, those secrets might just mean the end of them before they’ve truly begun.