Work In Progress... Potential Story Lines...

Good afternoon, all! :-) It's almost 5:30p on Sunday. Work tomorrow, but I suppose it's a necessary evil until I can write full time. I'm sure some of you already read my previous post about SOPA/PIPA. There's still debates and comments about the bill going on. I just hope everyone realizes the danger it poses of taking away our rights.

But I'm here to actually give you an update on this year's works in progress, and where I'm heading. At the moment, I'm about 41k words into a story I've been working on for a while now. With a recent brush of someone stealing one of my older works from the site I previously posted on, I don't want to post an excerpt, but I will give a small run down of the story.

Gabriel:
Gabriel Romero works for an agency that assists others like himself. A Deviant. An event five years ago leaves him bitter and cynical, marking himself as damaged with a lot of baggage. He's sent on a mission to retrieve two remarkable young men, one of which will get under his skin so deep he can't tell where he ends and the other man begins.

The picture is a general idea of what Gabriel looks like. He has short dark hair kept in a military fade-style and honey colored eyes. :-)




Alex:

Alex and Jason Ryker, twin brothers, are abducted while on the run from their home town after revealing their abilities in a heated moment. Alex, the quieter and more level-headed of the two, places his trust in Gabriel when the man comes to rescue the two of them. During their journey back to the agency, Alex starts to see the kind, gentle man hiding behind a gruff facade and makes a vow to cut away the thorns to the beautiful heart inside.

Alex's picture is close to what I think he appears in my head. His hair is a little darker than what you see here almost chocolate brown and his eyes are a bright emerald green, not the light green/blue in the picture. I couldn't find anything else that's close enough. :p



I am hoping to have the story finished by end of February for submission, but we shall see how it goes.

The other potential story lines coming up along with Gabriel's story is a sequel to Chasing Seth involving the story of Nick and Thayne. Also looking into redoing some of my older stories that are more young adult for submission since Dreamspinner press is now accepting them. I have another detective story I started writing a few years ago that is almost finished and I think if I edit it and finish it, may be worth sending out for consideration.

So I do have a lot of items in progress, but please be patient with me as my day job tends to leave me brain dead by the end of the day and I sometimes find it hard to focus after work.

Thanks for all your support and the fan mail I receive! I truly enjoy hearing from my readers. :-) Keeps me motivated and allows me to push past the mental block I sometimes find ends up in my way.

J.R.

SOPA/PIPA & Pirating (This is only MY Opinion).

**PLEASE understand this is only my opinion and after seeing all of the cheering and woohooing over Megaupload being taken down, I have to throw my two cents in the ring. This does not mean I want to have my email, FB, or blog comments blown up by people arguing that I'm wrong. This is my opinion and I have the right to express it without censure.***

As most of you know, I am a published author. While I understand that pirates cause others to lose money, I can't jump on the band wagon and cheer that MegaUpload was taken down. You're going to find two new sites that pop up in its place shortly. In fact, if I heard correctly, Megaupload is already back up and running.

Pirating is an unavoidable evil such as taxes and death. The only way to effectively kill pirating would be to take down the internet. Can you really see this world surviving without the internet? Would it have been so easy for some of us to actually become published or become a singer discovered on Youtube? The internet has opened opportunities in so many ways that many of us would never have had.

There will always be people who buy books/movies/music/etc., and there will always be people who don't/can't afford it. What's the difference between someone pirating it on the net and someone borrowing it from the library over and over again? The one copy is paid for and then that's it. No other royalties are paid out for that one book. Or renting videos. The video is purchased by Netflix/Blockbuster/general movie stores, and rented out continuously but they only paid for the initial copies and make thousands of dollars on that copy. How is that any different? Because it's a business? Because it's been accepted up to now?

If this bill that has been causing so much controversy and partying by some passes, a good portion of you don't even understand how that's going to impact you. Google, Wikipedia, Amazon, all of it will be impacted in some manner or another. And it may even hurt your royalties. Don't believe me? Read up on it.

Wikipedia - Stop Online Piracy Act

You know how most of us don't even need to go to a library to research information for the stories we write? Google will no longer be able to link to a LOT of sites where you do get your information. No more easy research, no more sitting in front of your computer and researching while you write. Now you'll have to get your butt off the chair and go to the library with time you may not have to spare.

If they take away our right to information, isn't that taking away our rights? I think it is. Because this bill would not just affect pirating of books/movies/music, it would also affect ANY site that links, posts, or contains any copyrighted information to the smallest sentence. Our blogs? The photos we use on our blogs? If we don't have the copyright owner's permission, you won't be able to post those pretty pictures everyone loves.

So maybe before cheering that MegaUpload is gone, stop and think a bit. Think of what it's actually going to impact, how it's going to impact you (and I don't mean earning perhaps a few pennies more in royalties), and think outside the box of this bill only being against pirating.

*Phew* Okay, I am done ranting. I needed to share that. Again, please do not blow up my comments, email or FB with how I'm wrong, etc etc. I don't care to hear it because this is my opinion and I don't jump on others for their opinion. This post is not directly pointed at anyone in particular.

Happy Sunday!

J.R.

Gay Movies or Lack Thereof

So tonight I got sucked into looking around on youtube by a friend of mine. She posted me a link to a video and I just kind of started browsing around. I found alot of fan videos posted for gay films. I love to read male/male romance books, but I find the volume or quality of the gay films available (not foreign films) is sadly lacking. There are very few quality gay films actually produced in the U.S.

While browsing the fanvids, I found a ton of videos based on foreign gay films which are extremely hard to get or are in a language I can't understand with no English subtitles.

There is only one gay themed movie I have really seen that wasn't either A)a tragedy where one of the main characters dies or B)isn't really awful acting and film quality. I would love to find gay themed films that had quality acting and proper filming done and were not actually trying for an 'artistic viewpoint'! Do gay films always have to be about the trials of coming out? What about just straight up gay romances like the books I write or read from companies like Dreamspinner Press or Silver Publishing?

Is there something written down somewhere that states it has to be flippin' depressing to watch a gay themed movie?? Or it has to be about the trials and tribulations of coming out of the closet? Don't get me wrong, those films are great, but I would kill to see a true quality gay themed flat out ROMANCE film. One where boy meets boy or man meets man and you see them falling in love!

And the same with TV shows! Queer as Folk was one of the few truly gay themed shows out there and it ended a while back after five seasons. The gay characters in any current TV shows usually end up being side characters instead of the main focus point. And I guess this all goes back to the HOMOPHOBIA this country seems to carry like a proud banner waving in the breeze. Countries overseas produce soap operas, tv series, movies, books, anime, etc. proudly and without trying to put an artistic twist on it. Why can't we do the same?

Am I wrong? Brokeback Mountain was really the first truly main stream film produced and yet they still felt the need to put that twist on it. To make it artistic, hiding who you are, and ending it with a bittersweet ending instead of a happy one. It drives me crazy how the only mainstream romance movies out there are hetero.

**This is my own personal opinion. I don't expect everyone to agree with me.***

Guest Blogger: Lily Harlem - Berets & Bras

Sexy military boys!




What is it about military men that gets us girls hot and bothered? Mmm, for me it’s their smokin’ hot bodies, the skilled use of their weapons and that glint in their eye that let us know they work hard and play hard.

I was thinking of soldier yumminess some time ago and came up with a book called Thief. Thief is a full length novel about a very bad girl who steals cars, she is disturbingly capable at her corrupt profession, until that is, she meets John Taylor, ex special service and not about to let this sexy lady get away with his Porsche.



Writing this erotic romance gave me the chance to indulge in my crush on uniformed hotties, but far from abating I soon found myself ogling lovely men in uniform again. Before I knew it another story was brewing Berets and Bras which is just out at Silver Publishing.





Blurb for Berets and Bras:

Blood, sweat and hard work has given me everything I want, except that is, the dangerous mercenary I'm in love and lust with. Until, one night, when my secrets are exposed, I discover, in the sweetest possible way that he's sinfully talented at handling more than just his armed weapon.



Excerpt:


Hurriedly, I tighten the strapping around my petite breasts, shrug into a black thermal top, and pull on an armoured vest. Moving swiftly but methodically, I stuff a homemade wad of padding into my boxers, yank up black combat pants, and wriggle my toes into multiterrain boots.

There's a sudden, sharp rap at my door accompanied by Tom's deep, grating voice. "Are you fucking ready, Carl?"


As always my heart does a flip, and for the millionth time I curse its erratic beats. Why does Tom have this effect on me? No one else has ever produced such a pathetic, simpering response in my cardiac muscle, and in all honesty, I could do without it. My infatuation with my colleague could ruin a year of subterfuge and deception, waste gallons of sweat from intense physical training, and make what has felt like a lifetime of suppressing female needs and desires utterly pointless.


At eighteen I joined the British army, worked until I was sweating blood, and concentrated solely on rising through the ranks, but by twenty-three I was lured out by the smell of money, lots of money. I'd been told it was impossible to become a mercenary. Women simply can't handle it. But me being me meant I was unable to take no for an answer, and I made it my mission to join an elite group known as Cobra. And now, standing here as twenty-four-year-old Carl, not Carol, I'm by far the finest sniper in the group, a fourth Dan in Seidokan karate, and I have a photographic memory for maps which means I rival even a local's knowledge.


I snatch open the door and see Tom's colossal bulk looming in the narrow hallway, hands placed on hips and his muddied forehead creased into three neat lines. "Bloody hell, you haven't done your camo yet," he grunts the second his gaze settles on me.

"Shit, hang on." I scoot back into my room.

He follows me with two ground-eating paces. "Here," he says. He reaches past my waist and grabs the tube of mud brown. "We gotta get going." He spins off the cap, oozes a blob onto his finger, and stoops towards my face.

I freeze.

He's too damn close for comfort.

Raw male pheromones fill my senses, and a potent, testosterone fuelled heat radiates into my pores. I try to pull my gaze from his rugged, camo-darkened face, terrified that he'll look into my soul and see blazing sexual turmoil. But I can't shift my eyes; my concentration is stuck, glued onto his coal-black pupils as I feel myself falling into them. Falling into him.

His frown deepens, and he licks his lips, covering them with a sheen of saliva. A shard of longing shoots to my pussy, and my nipples spike against their tight containment. I want to kiss the moisture off. I want to taste him, lick him. I want to know what it feels like to press my mouth to his for real and not just in a fantasy or a dream.

He swallows. His Adam's apple travels way down low then all the way back up. He opens his mouth, as if to speak, but then stops himself and clamps his lips into a tight, hard line.

My mind spins, my heart flutters. What has the dangerous, highly trained killer I'm in love with seen? Has he guessed my feelings? Felt my barely harnessed female desires? What was he about to say?


I hope you’ll check out my stories if you do be sure to let me know what you think, also sign up for my newsletter (on my website) to be in with a chance to win my latest release.
Lily Harlem
Winner of 2009 Love Honey Award for Erotic Fiction
http://www.lilyharlem.com/

Kindlegraph Requests

Hi, all! Me again! Twice in one day? Whoa! But yes, I had to share!! I signed up for Kindlegraph today so if you own any of my books and would like a Kindlegraph, head on over to Kindlegraph.com and sign up to submit a request!

When I signed up and submitted Chasing Seth as one of my books, I already had a signature request waiting! How cool is that?!

MM Good Book Reviews - The Greatest Compliment I've Ever Received

When I finished Chasing Seth, I thought 'This is my best work yet, no way it can disappoint'. I thought that because of how different it was from Touch Me Gently, how my writing style had matured since completing Touch Me Gently back in 2006, and how the storyline had more twists and turns and a less confusing outcome. But that same day I decided to check the reviews on Goodreads.com and found myself extremely disappointed, upset and down right depressed. I guess I should have learned Goodreads is not a good place to actually look at reviews. A good portion of the reviews are petty, vindictive, and just flat out cruel. Why the reviewers feel the need to be so, I have no idea. Maybe they're unhappy in their own life, or maybe they just feel the need to tear others down, kind of like in high school where the cheerleaders tease the fat kid.

The most baffling part of reading the reviews was seeing so many people agree with the worst one without even picking up the book and experiencing it for themselves. How can you possibly judge something without actually involving yourself in it? It would be like me looking at a cover of a book and saying, 'Oh, I'm not going to read that book. The cover's ugly/stupid/etc. so that means the story would be too.' Shame on those who feel the need to follow like sheep instead of making their own decisions. Doesn't the phrase go 'If so and so jumped off a cliff, would you follow them?' Because you know you wouldn't.

In my depression I made a post on Facebook which I wouldn't have really carried through with because I love writing too much, no matter what the naysayers of my books write, and I had someone reach out to me who has a website for book reviews. She offered to read the book and review it. I agreed because, even if she hated the book, I knew she'd give at least a professional review instead of a spiteful, vindictive bunch of trash talking. I had no idea what the review would contain or if she would even like the book, but when I received her email with the link to the review, I jumped on it to read the review like a dog does a treat. And I found the most wonderful review I've ever read of my books. I was so excited to see it that I even broke the taboo of logging into Facebook at work and posted the link for everyone to read it.

If you have a chance, please hop on over to MM Good Book Reviews and read what the review of Chasing Seth. Chasing Seth Review I sincerely recommend reading their reviews of books instead of following what the posionous readers write on Goodreads. True book reviewers will tell you the truth. And I'm not just saying this because the review was in a positive way. I would be saying this even if Pixie had hated the book.

Everyone's tastes differ. So don't always go along with whatever someone tells you. Make an informed decision for yourself. If you have to agree with a friend or else you'll make them angry at you, then they aren't really your friend.

Fragments of a Unicorn's Soul 'Sunday Snog'

Hi, everyone. I figured I'd join in the fun this Sunday and post one of my own Victoria Blisse's Sunday Snogs. :)  I hope you enjoy!



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Long moments of silence passed before Elek could speak, and he never once looked away from Jonathan as he told the story that had started years ago—from the night he'd felt the strong urge to enter the forest until the second Hemia yanked the horn from his head. He told Jonathan of the legend Aggie spoke of and how he'd taken the chance of death to be near him. When he'd finished, Jonathan stared at him, his face expressionless.

"You gave up immortality and risked the possibility of death for me?"

Brow furrowing, Elek nodded. "Eternal life means nothing if I can't be near you."

Jonathan slowly stood, calculatingly advancing toward the bed. The dark sapphires blazed, strange emotions swirling in their depths. Elek felt the heat of Jonathan's body the moment he stepped close to him, and he clenched his hands in the mattress under him to keep from reaching out to touch him. Jonathan set his hands on Elek's shoulders, placing one knee on the bed beside Elek.

"That is either the stupidest or the most romantic thing I've ever heard," Jonathan murmured, a mere breath of a second before covering Elek's lips with his own.

Elek gasped into the kiss, pleasure and hope sending his heart soaring. He groaned, bringing his arms up and wrapping them around Jonathan's waist tightly. Blood swelled in his lower regions and Elek wanted nothing more than to bury himself deep in Jonathan, his love, the human who held the pieces of his soul he'd never known were missing. Jonathan's tongue slid over his lips, pushing at them, and Elek parted them, his mouth immediately flooded with the taste of Jonathan.

Fingers tunneling through Elek's white-blond locks, Jonathan expertly nipped and sucked at Elek's mouth, elated at the innocence behind the man's responses. He still didn't understand how Elek could possibly be human or be there in his dorm room, in his arms, but he didn't want to question it anymore. He just wanted to feel him, to breathe him in, and know Elek belonged to him.

"Make love to me, Elek," Jonathan whispered pleadingly, his voice cracking.

Perhaps because it was such a primal, deep-seated need, Elek knew without question what his lover wanted, falling back into the soft bed and pulling Jonathan down on top of him. He slid his hands greedily along Jonathan's body, touching everywhere at once, yet it felt like he couldn't touch him enough. "Jonathan."

A thrill lanced through Jonathan's stomach at his name on Elek's lips, and he captured them again, drinking deep. He yanked his shirt over his head, baring his upper body to Elek's hungry gaze. "Too many clothes," he growled, pulling at the t-shirt covering Elek's muscular chest.

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Don't forget to check out my other releases:

From Dreamspinner Press



Touch Me Gently

Chasing Seth

 

Want to read more Sunday Snogs? Head over to Victoria Blisse's Blog for more!