Well, finally...

I've had my admin hat on the last couple of weeks and been running round with edits and promo stuff till my hair hurts. Yesterday though I finally got down to some serious writing on Ebb Tide, adding a few hundred words and doing some fairly hefty edits to what I've written so far. Like most of the stuff I wrote 3-4 years ago it simply has too many words and some of the sentences can be measured in yards. ;) I went through it with the proverbial red pen and hopefully it's looking healthier as a result.

It's over 13,000 words now and I'm starting to think 'novella' which means I might be able to try with either Changeling Press or Loose-ID for the first time. Both have a very good name amongst e-publishers and I'd like to give either of them a go. Memo to self: finish the damn story first. ;)

New gay fiction discussion group

Press release from ERWF member Kay Derwydd:

"Gay Fiction Discussion

Have you ever wanted a place to discuss gay fiction, no matter the genre? Well, look no further! Gay Fiction Disussion was created solely for that purpose. Erotic or not, from horror to historical, so long as it's fiction and focuses on GLBT characters, it has a place here.

Please visit us at http://gayfiction.forumsplace.com/ and help us to make this a wonderful community!"

This sounds like too tempting an opportunity to miss - I'm seriously thinking about joining myself!

Weird

One of my fellow writers of homoerotic romance has just had an application to review her novel turned down by a large online review site because, apparently, 'there's no interest in male/male romance'. I'm slightly gobsmacked. I would have expected a business of their size and stature to have done their market research, but they obviously haven't. Otherwise they would know about magazines like Velvet Mafia, which have been attracting submissions from (and presumably a readership amongst) women for years. They would also know about my own Forbidden Fruit, which publishes nothing but homoerotic romance and has a readership (of both men and women) in the thousands, not to mention MAS-Zine and Erotic Dreams and... I could go on.

And that's just the magazines. What about the wealth of new m/m erotica publishers that have sprung up lately, led by (but by no means limited to) Torquere Press and Loose-ID? What about the previously mainstream and/or heterosexual publishers, who are now putting out m/m erotica and romance titles as fast as they fly off the shelves? And what about the print heavyweights like Alyson Books and Cleis Press, who put out *annual* titles like 'Best Gay Love Stories'?

It seems rather short sighted to refuse to publicise a genre and then claim there's no interest in it. It smacks of the sort of 'you're the 30th person today I've told there's no call for that sort of thing', head-in-sand approach that went out with Noah's Ark, or at least with Stonewall. Sadly, it seems some people prefer to cling to outmoded theories than to embrace the exciting new ideas that are flooding the market-place. Worse, they prefer their outmoded theories to the voice of their own readers. And that really is weird.

Constructive boredom

It's true, boredom can be positive. *grin*. I'd got horribly bored with everything I was working on, so I dug an old novella out of my work in progress box and started messing about with it. It's a homoerotic take on Frenchman's Creek (Du Maurier's spirit will no doubt haunt me forever LOL) about a young man sent to live with relatives in Cornwall after a gay affair, who meets a mysterious captain on a hidden beach. I'm having lots of fun with it as it's something of a romp! I didn't write much extra but have been going through what I've done so far and adding some detail to link it to a specific time and date as that's something I have awful problems with in my writing. Too many stories sound as though they're set in the distant past when they're actually bang up to date! So I have to go through afterwards and [insert mobile phone here] just to make the point. LOL

Sold another story

Great news today as I've had another story accepted for an anthology. This one's Sticky Wicket, the fun cricket'n'sex story I finished just before Christmas, and it's been accepted for the 'Play Ball' collection (and what a wonderful name that is LOL). I was a bit worried the editor might have problems with the cricketing terminology, which is pretty baffling even to those of us who have any clue about the game. I mean, just what is silly mid off? Or short leg? Or the popping crease? :) I tried very hard to put just enough jargon in to make it authentic, without making it totally unreadable but it was a fine line to walk. It's going to be fascinating seeing what other sports have made it into the anthology when it comes out.

Illusionist website

I'm in the throes of re-designing my whole writing website to make use of the same template as this journal. It's a balls-achingly slow task and murder on the eyes but I'm hoping it'll be worth it in the end. Much as I like the 'through a glass darkly' tag-line (and pun on my name!) I've never been entirely happy with the white-on-black text of the site, which I find very tiring to read. It'll be a few days yet before I'm ready to unleash the new design so watch this space!

Whispers on the Wind

Erotic Dreams has accepted my story already which is a lovely surprise - both that the editor liked it enough to take it, and that she let me know so quickly! Not sure yet when the new issue will be up but I'll keep everyone posted.

The story is one I wrote a while back, about a young man who has a telepathic link to a secret friend, but doesn't know who the friend actually is in spite of 'talking' to him almost every day. After his mother dies he's sent to live in another land, but during the journey he falls and knocks himself out. When he awakes it's to find his secret friend at his side, but he still can't tell who it is because his eyes are bandaged. It's all very dreamy and poignant, and romantic, and it's always been a favourite of mine so I'm glad it's gone to a good home!

Lost Property

The cover art and blurb are in preparation and the mss is in final edits so it looks as though the book could be released any time soon! Woo-hoo! That'll be the second elf story I have out with Chippewa and I may even be able to promote them as a matched set.

This afternoon one of my editor friends asked for submissions for her magazine, Erotic Dreams, so I spent the rest of the day cutting and polishing Whispers on the Wind, a poignant fantasy story that I hope will be perfect. It needed quite a bit chopping off but as usual I'd used too many words in the first place so it reads a lot better as a result!

Writing at last

After all the hard work on Forbidden Fruit, I finally settled down, applied nose to grindstone and wrote something at last! And made reasonable progress, too, finishing off another short story for the Kitchen Sink collection, this one about an errant sock in the wash! I don't know about you, but in our household socks cause more trouble than any other piece of clothing. I regularly close the washing machine door, only to find one sock slithering off into the shadows, or clinging to the bottom of the laundry basket. They just cry out for a story of their own.

Ooops! and new layout

I managed to accidentally delete the whole of my old template while fiddling around yesterday, and spent the best part of an evening trying to find it again in the welter of links to blog template sites, with no success. So, I hunted out an exceptionally gorgeous skin from CreateBlog and have used it, with a few small amendments and customisations, instead!

I hope you like it.

New stories

Two of my stories have put in an appearance on the same day!

Salad Days, an amusing tale of domestic chaos, is available in Torquere Press's Fresh Off the Vine - scroll down to the third story on the page to find it.

And at the same time the new issue of Forbidden Fruit has hit the screens, complete with Board Stupid, an ultra short story about love amongst the small ads. This one was written specially to fit with the issue's special theme of 'communication'.

Hope you enjoy both stories!

First novel

Torquere Press were the source of much rejoicing as they've accepted 'Roses in December' for publication in July. I'm thrilled to bits, as although I've had short stories and collections of stories published, this will be my first ever novel! Excuse me while I dance round the study. *grin*

Obviously it's too soon for any more details yet but as soon as I know more I'll let everyone know.

The gods are smiling

I've had four separate lots of good news today and can't quite believe my luck!

First, I've been disqualified from the judging of the Fruity Awards because One Degree of Separation has made the list of finalists in the m/m category! I'm slightly disappointed not to be involved in the judging, but heck - what an excuse!

Second, Forbidden Fruit has been nominated in the fiction magazines category of the Preditors & Editors 2005 poll, and yours truly has also been nominated in the editors category. I'm over the moon!

Next, Velvet Mafia have accepted a book review (of The Linguist by Sebastian Beaumont) which should be appearing in the zine some time before February.

And finally, Forgotten Race, an erotic story about a centaur and an archaeologist, has been accepted by Torquere Press for one of their new line of 'Taste Tests' - three-story e-books with a common theme. This one will also include centaur stories from Emily Veinglory and Kay Derwydd and we're *all* over the moon!

I wish I could have more days like this.... :)

Much scurrying

Not one of my better days health-wise but I still managed to get quite a lot of admin-y stuff done. I chased up a couple of submissions I've had in for ages and not heard anything on (the Forbidden Fruit anthology with Cleis Press and a book review for Velvet Mafia); I updated my website Through a Glass Darkly with details of the forthcoming title from Whiskey Creek Press; and I bundled together three centaur-themed stories from myself, Emily Veinglory and Kay Derwydd and submitted them to Torquere for their new Taste Teaser line. And on top of all that, I found time to complete my tax form (ugh) and do some more programming on Forbidden Fruit. Phew!

Woo! Reading material!

Press release from ERWF member K M Frontain:



Just released, the next set in The Soulstone Chronicles:

The Disposition of Ashes takes up the story where The Gryphon Taint left off. Follow the personal triumphs and disasters of Ufrid Tyrunath as he learns how to become a good man under the tutelage of an amnesiac god.

New design

I made a start on the html programming for Forbidden Fruit. This time we're going for a slightly different design, keeping (mostly) the same graphics and the same overall look and feel, but with a different layout which should give us less clutter and more space for comments and quotes. It's looking good but of course all the old pages need to be re-coded so I'm currently wading through the archive and changing them all by hand. I have to admit I'll be very glad when they're all done.

And I had a scare yesterday evening when I thought the magazine's site had been hacked because I got a sudden welter of pop-up adverts the minute I accessed the main contents page. After a few rather panic-stricken minutes we established that it hadn't - it was 'good' old Bravenet, who I'd used to set up a mini-poll on the page, throwing their weight round. Needless to say, the poll won't be making the transition into the new issue. I always have pop-ups switched off but if I'd had any idea of their number and invasiveness I'd never have signed up for the service in the first place. The last thing I want to do is annoy (or even infect) our readers....