Down Under Author Showcase
January 12, 2015 at 6:45 am | Posted in Bottom Drawer Publications, Dreamspinner Press, Promotion | Leave a commentTags: promotion
The Down Under Author Showcase at Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is almost halfway through, if you can believe that. Heaps has gone on already, with lots of interesting facts about Australia and New Zealand highlighted (even I am learning things!), and lots of great author posts and interviews. If you haven’t been able to visit every day you can catch up with the action at this link.
Don’t forget there’s a scavenger hunt, and a lot of prizes up for grabs. My post will be up towards the end of the week, and I’ll be giving away a book from my backlist, and there are also additional copies of Cutting Out and the Under the Southern Cross anthology (containing my novella Whitewater) in the swag. So head on over and check things out!
January 2015: Down Under Author Showcase at Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words
December 31, 2014 at 10:01 am | Posted in Bottom Drawer Publications, Promotion | Leave a commentTags: promotion
A little heads-up about an exciting promo month that’s just around the corner now. My blogging day is January 16th, but as you’ll see there’s a heap of Aussie and Kiwi authors participating, so it promises to be great!
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For the entire month of January, Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is showcasing 28 authors from Australia and New Zealand. Journey by way of these authors stories and settings through the mountainous regions and rocky coasts, and cities of New Zealand, or the vastly different and beautiful territories of Australia! Get to know the authors and let them act as your travel guides, introducing you to faraway countries, places they call home.
Think everyone in the US, CAN, AUS, and NZ all speak the same English? Oh the joy of discovering what an “esky”, “chilly bin”, “jandals”, “mozzie” or even a “woop-woop” is. Each day brings a new author, new books, new giveaways and, yes, new surprises.
In addition to these wonderful authors and their novels, Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words has multiple event prizes to be awarded to readers who participate in the Down Under Author Showcase Scavenger Hunt. Visit each author’s page in January, search out the Scavenger Hunt word or phrase, and then follow the directions on the Showcase page at our website.
For all the details and information for our first January Down Under Author Showcase, visit http://scatteredthoughtsandroguewords.com
Check out our participating authors below (in no particular order):
N.R. Walker * Christian Baines * Anne Barwell * Nic Starr * Renae Kaye * Meredith Shayne * John Terry Moore * John Wiltshire * Lily Veldon * Barry Lowe * L.J. LaBarthe * Beany Sparks * Jack Byrne * Nicki J. Markus * Michelle Rae * A.B. Gayle * Lisa Harris * Isabelle Rowan * N.J. Nielson * Bette Browne * Lisa Henry * Toni Griffin * Pelaam * RJ Jones * Penny Brandon * Cecil Wilde * Ellen Cross * Maggie Nash
Plus Down Under publishers:
Wayward Ink Press * BDPublications
Blog tour wrap-up and Goodreads Member’s Choice Awards
November 25, 2014 at 6:12 pm | Posted in Bottom Drawer Publications, Cutting Out, Goodreads, Promotion | Leave a commentTags: BDP, blog tour, bottom drawer publications, Cutting Out
My Cutting Out blog tour has now come to its conclusion, with the following posts:
I talk about Australia versus New Zealand at Two Men Are Better Than One (and highlight a HILARIOUS video from a Flight of the Conchords episode)
At My Fiction Nook, there’s an exclusive excerpt from the book, plus a 4-star review from Sandra, who says:
I loved the descriptions of the landscape, loved how the author didn’t shy back from showing the reality of shearing, working with sheep, and how hard these men work for the money they make. The writing is crisp, straight-forward, realistic and organic. A wonderfully rounded story, a character study of two men, and a romance that is, while quiet, also strong and enduring.
I’m also delighted to report that Cutting Out has been nominated in two categories in the Goodreads Member’s Choice Awards – Best Contemporary/Mainstream and Best Blue Collar. Thanks so much to those who nominated it!
You have to be a member of the group to vote, but if you are, the topic at the group is here. Voting opens November 28th.
The Cutting Out blog tour continues
November 14, 2014 at 7:42 pm | Posted in Bottom Drawer Publications, Cutting Out, Promotion | Leave a commentTags: BDP, blog tour, Cutting Out, promotion
The Cutting Out blog tour continues! Over the last few days I’ve been getting around the place with some interviews and blog posts. At all these blog stops, the giveaway is running, so don’t forget to enter! You can find the posts at the following links:
– I answer some great interview questions from Gen at SydneyGen Reads
– I talk about shearing competitions at Erotica For All
– The Novel Approach gets some of my gushing about Queenstown, plus some photos of the gorgeous Otago-region scenery
– The Aussie accent and slang is the subject of my blog post at Zipper Rippers
– I talk about the life of a New Zealand shearer at Hearts on Fire Reviews
– Finally, CJ Baty interviews me over at her blog. I manage to talk about my love of reality TV once again!
Cutting Out blog tour
November 11, 2014 at 6:31 am | Posted in Bottom Drawer Publications, Cutting Out, Promotion, Reviews | Leave a commentTags: blog tour, Cutting Out, promotion
The title of this blog post kind of gives it away, but Stuff is happening, people! Stuff to do with Cutting Out! I am about a third of the way through a blog tour, where there are excerpts, giveaways, reviews, blog posts and interviews happening all over the place. So far there have been visits to:
Love Bytes Reviews, where there’s an excerpt and a giveaway
Book Reviews & More by Kathy has another excerpt (featuring the introduction of the thorn in Shane’s side, his mate Zach) and giveaway
Multitasking Mommas gives Cutting Out 5 stars in their review, and they are also hosting a giveaway
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words, who gave Cutting Out a lovely review a few days ago. I stop in there to talk a little bit about the Christchurch earthquake and its aftermath, which features pretty heavily in the book. Melanie is also hosting a giveaway.
So feel free to stop by one of those places and take a look, and good luck if you enter the giveaways!
Meet the Character Blog Hop
October 27, 2014 at 5:53 pm | Posted in Bottom Drawer Publications, Cutting Out, Dreamspinner Press, Promotion | Leave a commentTags: blog hop, Cutting Out, promotion
So I’ve been tagged by the lovely Nic Starr to participate in the Meet the Character Blog Hop, where those of us who are so inclined talk a little bit about the characters from our latest books. Nic introduced us to Dave Simpson, from her upcoming release A Day at a Time. You can read more about Dave in Nic’s post here. A Day at a Time will be out on October 29th, and you can preorder it from Dreamspinner Press here.
Blurb
Sean Vargos is quiet, well respected, and dedicated to his job. But Dave Simpson sees Sean as more than a coworker. He’s fought his attraction to Sean for months but can’t get him out of his thoughts.
They tentatively embark on a relationship, but Sean isn’t all that he seems. He struggles to put his past behind him and overcome his fears.
Dave, with his good looks and open nature, accepts that sometimes Sean’s doubts get the better of him and he runs. Dave just wants the chance to show Sean he can be trusted and the past doesn’t have to dictate their future.
~~~
Now it’s time for you to meet Shane, from my newly released novel, Cutting Out.
What is the name of your character?
Shane Cooper, Coop to his friends. “That Aussie bastard” to people who are not his friends. 🙂
Is he a fictional or a historic person?
Most definitely fictional.
When and where is the story set?
Cutting Out is a contemporary romance set in New Zealand, mostly in the shearing sheds of various sheep farms across the country. Queenstown and Christchurch also feature.
What should we know about him?
He’s Australian, something that is rare enough in New Zealand that everybody constantly comments on it. He’s been in New Zealand for 10 years, after leaving Australia for reasons that he never talks about. He’s a shearer at the top of his game, earning the title of gun shearer without breaking a sweat. He turns 40 during the course of the story, and all he sees when he looks in the mirror is the grey in his hair and the crows feet at the corners of his eyes.
What is the main conflict? What messes up his life?
Meeting a young shearer by the name of Lachlan Moore. Fifteen years Shane’s junior, when we meet Lachie he’s a bit of a party boy, but then he suffers a personal tragedy during the Christchurch earthquake that changes his life forever. Shane wants to get to know Lachie more than he’s wanted anything for a while, but Lachie’s issues build a sturdy, almost-insurmountable wall between them.
What is the personal goal of the character?
To have a quiet, peaceful life. He’s ready to settle down and find someone who’s more than just a one-night fling.
Is there a working title for this novel, and can we read more about it?
The book is called Cutting Out, and it’s available now from Bottom Drawer Publications
Blurb
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.
~~~
Now to introduce you to the two authors who I’m handing the blog hop baton to. Both of these lovely ladies will be posting on November 3rd, so watch out for their posts. Enjoy the rest of the blog hop!
LJ LaBarthe (Blog: http://misslj_author.livejournal.com/)
A long-term friend of mine, LJ has just released Mythica from Bottom Drawer Publications.
Blurb
Caiden Jones is part-selkie and lives an idyllic life by the sea in South Australia. He’s had his fair share of disappointments, like being kept out of the Navy due to his mythica status, but overall he’s got a pretty good life. Until he’s in the wrong place at the right time.
Cai steps in to subdue an out-of-control minotaur and in the process suffers a serious injury to his ribs. As Cai struggles to breathe, a gorgeous suit-clad sy’lph with mesmerising blue eyes races to his rescue. When it’s learned that the minotaur was poisoned, the sy’lph, Gray, makes it his personal mission to keep Cai and his family safe.
Cai has always harboured some resentment towards the sy’lph because of their easy acceptance into the community, so the attraction he feels for Gray takes him by surprise. But how can they find out what this might mean when the lives of Cai and his family are endangered by someone closer than they realise?
Renae Kaye (Blog: http://renaekaye.weebly.com/renae-blogs)
Renae is a woman after my own heart; that is, she likes to write about shearers. Her new release, The Shearing Gun, is available from Dreamspinner Press.
Blurb
At twenty-five, Hank owns a small parcel of land in Australia’s rural southwest where he supplements his income from the property with seasonal shearing. Hank is a “shearing gun”—an ace shearer able to shear large numbers of sheep in a single day. His own father kicked him out when his sexuality was revealed, and since no one would ever hire a gay shearer, Hank has remained firmly closeted ever since.
Elliot is the newbie doctor in town—city-born and somewhat shell-shocked from his transplant to the country. When a football injury brings Hank to Elliot’s attention, an inappropriate sexual glance and the stuttered apology afterward kickstarts their friendship. Romance and love soon blossom, but it’s hard for either of them to hope for anything permanent. As if the constant threat of being caught isn’t enough, Elliot’s contract runs out after only a year.
Interview at LJ LaBarthe’s blog
April 8, 2014 at 8:36 pm | Posted in Promotion, Writing | Leave a commentTags: interviews, promotion, writing
You would think that after more than 10 years of friendship LJ LaBarthe would have run out of things to ask me about, but she has not! So there is an interview with me over on her blog, where I talk about writing, story locations, and my favourite place in the world.
The post is here – feel free to come over and say hi.
Blokes in Love (new free read)
October 22, 2013 at 7:51 pm | Posted in Anthology, Free fiction, Promotion, Short story, Writing | 4 CommentsTags: Cutting Out, free fiction
I break my accidental blog hiatus to say that I’ve updated my book pages with some changes. First of all, my novella Rust Red: Galvanized, which is a sequel to my free read Eyes Wide Shut, has now gone out of print. So if you wanted to grab it, you’re out of luck, I’m afraid. At least until I decide what I’m going to do with it.
Second of all, the first M/M meetup in Australia has come and gone. I flew over to Sydney to attend it, and had a fab time, which I will attempt to put into words sometime soon. To commemorate that event, an anthology with six stories from some of the attending authors has been produced. Called Blokes in Love, it’s available for free from Smashwords and All Romance ebooks. All the stories have a common thread, in that they’re all set in either Australia or New Zealand, to showcase life down under. As is fitting for a bunch of bods who love M/M and got together to celebrate being from the southern hemisphere!
Contributing authors were AB Gayle, NJ Nielsen, Jess Buffet, Pelaam, Susan Beck and me. My story is called “Cutting Out”, and it’s the story of Shane Cooper and Lachlan Moore, shearers who work the runs of New Zealand. Serena Yates of Rainbow Book Reviews – who came all the way from the UK to attend the Meet, how good is that? – has reviewed the anthology and loved it.
Of Cutting Out, she said:
“…this story about two sheep shearers, one much older than the other, touched me deeply. Shane so desperately wants more than casual encounters with the much younger Lachie, and is devastated when Lachie rejects him. Shane’s situation had me up in arms, railing against the injustices of fate. That was until I got to see things from Lachie’s side, and his reasons for turning down Shane almost made me cry. Be ready for an intense emotional roller coaster as these two men battle their pride and their circumstances!”
Below is an excerpt, for your reading pleasure. The lovely cover is courtesy of Jess Buffett, who went the extra mile and made all contributing authors individual covers, in addition to the anthology cover.
He’d half expected it, but his heart still jolted when he came face to face with Lachie, his shaggy black hair poking out from under the beanie he wore, his dark brown eyes fixed on Shane’s face.
Lachie offered Shane a tentative smile. “Morning, Coop.”
“Morning,” Shane said gruffly, his heart aching as he stared at Lachie for a few seconds longer before picking up his gear and stowing it in the trailer. When he turned around he didn’t look at Lachie again, directing his gaze somewhere in the vicinity of Lachie’s booted feet. “We’ll be leaving in a minute.”
Lachie said, “Okay…” and Shane stepped around him, heading towards the bus’s sliding door, which was now standing open. Don was there, chatting to the team, and the last-minute instructions he had for Shane were a welcome distraction. Being the first one in the van, Shane folded himself into a seat at the front, slouching down as Jade and Di took the driver and passenger seats and the others piled in behind Shane. Shane’s neck and shoulders loosened just a tiny bit as the new rouseabout—Pania—sat beside him, Lachie casting them a look Shane refused to believe was disappointed as he climbed in after her.
Shane slouched down a bit more as they set off and the others started chatting around him. He knew he wouldn’t be allowed to sit quietly and mind his own business straight away, so he wasn’t surprised when someone grabbed the back of his seat and shook it.
“Coop, did you watch the game over the weekend?” Maaka asked, his voice triumphant. “We thrashed the Wallabies good, didn’t we? We thrashed you good and proper!”
“Didn’t watch it,” Shane said, which wasn’t exactly true. He’d watched it, sitting in the corner of his local pub on his own, surrounded by Kiwis and trying not to let anyone hear him say anything like “six” or “fish and chips” while the Aussies were soundly thrashed by the All Blacks. He’d left at half-time, when all hope was lost. It didn’t matter too much; he’d get his own back when the cricket started, because the Black Caps were the shittiest cricket team in the world, and everyone knew it. He’d let his gang take their victories while they could.
Before Maaka could gloat any more, Pania turned to him. “You from Aussie, then?”
Shane had given up trying to get the Kiwis he knew to call Australia the right nickname—Oz—years ago. It was a losing battle. “Yep. South coast of New South Wales,” he said. “Been here about ten years.” Braced for the question they always asked, he wasn’t disappointed.
“What the hell did you come here for? Isn’t it always the other way around, us going there?”
Shane sighed internally. They never got it. “I’m a shearer,” he said, like he always did, because nobody ever seemed to realise that wasn’t an actual answer before he distracted them with another thing he always said. “I like New Zealand, it’s beautiful. You lot don’t appreciate what you’ve got here. You just focus on the bad things and forget about the good.”
That shut them up for a while, and when they’d all mulled that over and started talking again, the conversation turned from him to other, safer topics. Glancing over his shoulder to find Lachie watching him, he turned back around without acknowledging it. Slumping in his seat some more, Shane settled in to brood for the rest of the trip.
Truce now available as a freebie from ARe
April 7, 2013 at 9:24 pm | Posted in Free fiction, Promotion | Leave a commentI’ve spent a teeth-grindingly frustrating afternoon formatting Truce for publication through All Romance ebooks for those of you who like to have your freebies in ebook form, and eventually came out victorious. I have now confirmed that section breaks are a tool of Satan. Not that I didn’t know that before.
Anyway! Truce now has a pretty cover, courtesy of my good friend LJ LaBarthe, and is available in PDF, Mobi and ePub formats here, still absolutely 100% free.
I did my best to check all the formatting, but there’s only so many times you can read something and still see the things that are wrong with it, so if there’s any formatting that makes you want to stab your eyes out in any of the file formats, please let me know and I’ll do my best to fix it. Proof of bleeding eyeballs not required.
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