I was involved in a wonderful project, and though my contribution is small, I wanted to share!

 

 http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-backup-794466-145.html

New Release Date for my first Publishing House Novel!!

Look for it September 22, 2012!!!

Hop Against Homophobia Contest Winner

Congratulations to Suze for winning a copy of Phoenix and commenting on this worthy endeavor.

Hop Against Homophobia

Hop Against Homophobia

Homophobia

Dictionary.com

unreasoning fear of or antipathy toward homosexuals  and homosexuality.

Merriam-Webster

irrational fear of, aversion to, or discrimination against homosexuality or homosexuals

Oxford Dictionaries

an extreme and irrational aversion to homosexuality and homosexual people.

 Do you see a pattern? Unreasoning and irrational. A phobia. Exactly. And let’s not forget discrimination. Something that should have been eradicated a long time ago.

A phobia is a condition to be overcome with the right direction, information and experience. Homophobia should not even be a word found in the dictionary. And where is the fear coming from? Are homophobes afraid the gayness will rub off on them? That homosexual individuals will turn them gay? Really? And I suppose if an African American person, or Asian person stands too close, you will become African American or Asian? Same principle.

I don’t understand it. But then again, I don’t understand most phobias. And most homophobes cannot justify their irrational and unreasoning fears on childhood traumas like so many phobias can. Fear of spiders? Maybe you were bitten as a child. Fear of heights? You might have fallen out of a tree. Fear of open spaces? Maybe you were separated from your parents and lost. Who knows, but homophobia? What? You saw two men or two women kissing? Big whoop. They weren’t kissing you.

Homophobia is learned, homosexuality is not. Homophobia is a choice, homosexuality is not. I once read somewhere, and I don’t remember where, but it was so appropriate, that I want to share it here.

Straight man: When did you know you were gay?

Gay man: When did you know you were straight?

Let me ask the homophobic straight people of the world. Did you consciously think about being straight when you started noticing the opposite sex? Did you look at a girl and think, “Damn, she’s cute, I must be straight”. Or, “He’s so hot, I must be straight”. I didn’t think so.

And then there is the violence that so often comes with homophobia. It’s simple really, if you believe you have the right to torment, beat or kill someone for being gay, then they have that exact same right to torment, beat and kill you for being straight. No one, and I mean no one has the right to lay hands on another in hate. It makes me ashamed to be part of such a brutal species. Which brings me to the religious aspect of homophobia.

Religious zealots have often times hidden behind their faith to justify what they say and do. I will not ever condemn an entire religion for those few cowards that smear the doctrines that so many do try and live by. I believe the best example is what happened to Jesus himself. Jesus was different. He could walk on water, cure the sick, blind and dying and speak to God himself. That scared the general populace. And what did they do? They chose a thief over the son of God just because he didn’t conform to what they thought as ‘normal’. I use the example loosely only because it is the faith I have. I’m sure there are other examples in other religions.

Back to the definition of homophobia. It’s irrational to hate homosexuality. It is unreasonable to condemn a person for loving someone of the same sex. Do I believe that homophobia will disappear in my lifetime? No. Do I wish it? Absolutely. I would love to see the day when homosexuality and heterosexuality mean nothing. Where being gay is no different than being blue-eyed or blond-haired. Where same sex couples can live their lives openly and be normal, because in reality?

They are.

I'm doing a giveaway associated with this Blog Hop. Comment and you will be entered to win an ebook of Phoenix.

Please visit the Hop page for more interpretations of homophobia and stories of other's experiences: http://hopagainsthomophobia.blogspot.com.au/

Men of May Blog Hop

It's May and time for Men of May Blog Hop. It is always a great time to celebrate the beauty of men and their lives and loves in books. I decided to write about how I got into the m/m erotic romance genre in the first place. Hope you enjoy a peek into my life and be sure to click on the link at the bottom to "hop" on over to my fellow authors stories.

Let me tell you how I first got into reading m/m erotic romance, then writing it.

The first three m/m stories I bought were His Convenient Husband: Innamorati, Book 1 by J.L. Langley, Eros Rising by Ally Blue and Str8te Boys by Evangeline Anderson.

I have read those three stories at least a half dozen times. They were the beginning. They were the spark that ignited my journey into man love that I can hardly live without now.

I have over 900 m/m stories loaded on my Kindle. I have read nearly every one of them at least twice. Yes, there are a few that are my favorites, enough that I go back to them time and again. I am pathetically hooked.

I was in the middle of reading Touch Me Gently by J.R. Loveless when I decided I could do this. I could write these kinds of stories. I haven’t looked back.

My first, my baby is A Mechanic’s Dream. That one took me longer to write than many other subsequent ones. I poured my imagination into that story, and Croy Fischer and Kagan O’Conner are most definitely my all time favorite characters. That's why I decided to have them in a series, Valley Love.

CONTEST: Give me your email and the name of two of my books not mentioned in this blog and win an ebook copy of BOTH!! I will pick the first person who answers.

Writing m/m erotic romance is wonderful. The ability to create men that are multi-layered, complex and flawed is both challenging and rewarding.

Every time I pick up another book, it gives me more fodder for the men I create in my own stories. I was never into romance growing up, though I read just about everything else that was fiction, mainly fantasy. I always thought, if…no, when…I become a writer, it would be fantasy that would be the genre I wrote. And I do. I have several WIP that are fantasy. I also have two that are science fiction and many that are paranormal.

But if you look at the WIPs that I have, most of them are m/m erotic romance. The love between two men is beautiful. I love reading about it, I love writing it. I love the hard road many must take to get their happily ever after.

And I believe all human beings, men and women, no matter the combination deserve their happily ever after.

Oh! And J.L. Langley!! I am so waiting for Innamorati, Book 2!!

Click below to hop along to the next interesting Men of May blog:

Loving your Characters

Being in Love with your Characters –

I’m single. I lost my husband of 28 years, three years ago. I’m lonely. But I have many virtual men in my life. Aside from the fact that nearly all of them are gay, I love them dearly. I could go as far as to say I am in love with them.

I know it sounds insane, and quirky, and maybe even eccentric.  As an author, I’ve created many men. Most have all the qualities I would want in a significant other, flaws included. No man is perfect, no human being is perfect. But if I were to ever meet any of them on the street, I would be instantly infatuated.

I create my men to be smart, emotional and sexy. Some are gorgeous, some not so much. They range from older teens to men my own age. Different men for the different stages in my life. Yes, I pull their personalities from what I would want in a man at different times in my life.

Many of them are vulnerable, because I am vulnerable. Many of them struggle with self-esteem over lovers because I struggle with self-esteem about dating. Some are shy, because I am, but many are not, because I adore a man that can take charge and is confident in himself.

Some of them have anger issues, something pulled from my experience with my husband. But they overcome it, as my husband did not. Most are humble in some way. I like my men to be oblivious about their charm. Yes, I’ve created a few who are arrogant and think they are God’s gift to every gay man out there. But they learn they are not. Sometimes, painfully. I do love to torture my men.

Most of my men are generous, sometimes to the detriment of their lives. Also something I experienced with my husband. We did without many times because my husband gave what we had to others. This didn’t upset me unless it was unnecessary.

My harem is extensive and varied. Blonds, brunettes, even a couple of redheads. Eyes that travel from light blue to a brown so dark as to be black. Men are beautiful and I don’t want to limit my loves to one type.

I have men that go from thin, pale twinks to large, muscular bears. Again, I don’t want to limit the beauty that I create. Most fall somewhere in between. Some are very average, and most are not stereotypical. The stereotypical gay man is a societal based prejudice. Or at least in my opinion. I have never seen nor met a gay man with a limp wrist, lisp or overabundance of makeup. Do they exist? Maybe. I don’t know, nor do I care.

I love my men, gay or straight. Being in love with your characters has one distinct advantage. It helps you create depth. My men are complicated because I love them and make them as close to realistic as I can. They yell, scream, cry, laugh, growl, fight and love. They get angry, sad, happy, aroused and disinterested because they are as human as I can make them.

Is it weird that I am in love with my characters? Probably. Do I think others will think I am crazy? Possibly. Do I care? No. My sister says I am a true author because I am weird. She may be right. I hope that I am a true author because I can create stories that are good, entertaining and bring out the emotions in my readers. And have them fall in love with my characters as much as I have.