Thursday, February 28, 2013

An Invitation....

Dreamspinner has invited you to the event: Meet Eden Winters. 

Date: Saturday, March 02, 2013 03:00PM
Venue: Dreamspinner Press Goodreads group
Location: The United States
Description:
Chat with Eden Winters, author of Duet, this Saturday starting from 3PM EST. 

Duet: 

Eden Winters 

How Much Reality Do You Like With Your Fiction?

How much reality do you like with your fiction? A lot? A little? Not much? The Collusion blog hop continues at Words of Wisdom... from The Scarf Princess.

My charming host also reviewed the story, rating it an "A". Here's a little of what The Scarf Princess had to say:
This is an intensely emotional story with two very complicated and realistic characters dealing with realistic issues.  The action in and out of the bedroom allows for the reader to see these characters at their best and worst and shows Ms. Winters talent at creating fully fleshed-out characters that you can't help but be drawn to.  Fans of the m/m genre will find much to admire about this emotionally complicated story.
Stop by, check out the lovely review, and discuss your views on the subject of reality in fiction at Words of Wisdom... from The Scarf Princess. 

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

The Blog Hop Continues...

What is a hero? Is he gorgeous, or can the guy you'd never look at twice be more courageous and compassionate than someone with movie star good looks? Is he kind and gentle, or can he cuss a blue streak and keep everyone at arm's length?

Join me at Kinky Book Reviews, the latest stop in my Collusion blog hop, and share what you think makes someone a hero.


Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Collusion Giveaway at Reviews by Jessewave

Reviews by Jessewave has posted a giveaway contest for an ebook copy of my latest release, Collusion. Would you like to see what happened to Lucky and Bo after Diversion ended? Hurry on over and get your name in the hat!


Monday, February 25, 2013

New Collusion Contest

Round two of the blog hop is ready to take off, and this post is the landing pad where readers from those blogs, (and this one) can enter to win copies of the book. I'll award two winners an ebook copy, and one entrant will receive a signed set of both Diversion and Collusion in print.

The contest will go until March 5, at that time I'll pull winners out of the old magic hat.

I'll post the links to participating blogs once they go live.


An Excerpt From Collusion

Lucky and Bo from last year's Diversion are back in Collusion. And Lucky's gotten himself into a little bit of hot water....


Lucky tucked his wallet into the glove compartment, taking only his badge, gun, work cell phone, and the flashlight. He hiked through a dense stand of trees to reach the building’s loading docks. The van still sat parked outside.

Two men stepped out of an open loading bay access, one stopping to lower the metal door behind him. A few minutes later they drove away. Lucky made a quick circuit around the building before venturing up the stairs to the docks. A padlock secured the loading door. He found the other entrances similarly secured. While no lock stopped Lucky for long, he didn’t want to leave evidence that’d he’d been there.

Giving up on an easy entry, he slithered up the gnarled kudzu vine, wider around than his wrist in some places. It would have been one hell of a lot easier to climb with tennis shoes, instead of the lace-up business shoes mandated for the uniform, and once or twice he clung to the vine to keep from falling. He peered through a broken window on the third floor. With the sun shining on the other side of the building, and an overhanging roof and the kudzu providing shade, the space appeared dark, even hours before sunset.

He wriggled through the window. His feet connected with the floor, slipped and Wham! He landed flat on his back, breath whooshing out. Screek, screek, screek!Lucky rolled to his feet, snapping the borrowed Q-Beam on and aiming it at the ceiling. Wings fanned up a breeze as two dozen or more upside down bodies screeched in protest.

Bats! He wrinkled his nose in disgust at the bat shit now smeared on his arms and pants. What a fucking smell! Using the wall for handholds, he rose and gingerly picked his way across the slippery wooden floorboards, breathing a sigh of relief once he’d cleared the exit.

Down rickety stairs he climbed, clutching a rusted iron railing. Outside the sun shone, but the mostly boarded up windows let in little light. For a moment Lucky wondered what the place had looked like in its heyday, back when textile mills provided the lifeblood for sleepy little towns. His grandfather once worked in a similar place. Lucky shuddered. How in the hell had the man worked indoors eight hours at a time, doing the same ole, same ole, day in, day out?

Thick grime spoke of long disuse, until he reached the bottom level. A ray of sunlight shone through a crack in the wall, dust particles dancing in the beam. The scent of decay hung heavy in the air, along with grease and oil smells from years ago.

At the base of the stairs he found an office, old metal desk overturned and graffiti spattering the walls. A file cabinet stood empty and open. He tiptoed down the hall on plank flooring, gritting his teeth at the creak and grind of rotting wood. The kudzu vine grew on the far left, with the loading docks around the back. That meant… This way! He turned left at the next hallway. “What th—” He shrank back, biting off a shout. A rat scuttled out of the way of his Q-Beam’s glow.

“You leave me alone, I’ll return the favor,” he muttered under his breath. Eerie, creepy silence. No traffic noises, no voices, no electrical hum of machinery. Prickles rose on Lucky’s arms. Walter in lecture mode; the honks, beeps, and squealing brakes of downtown Atlanta at rush hour; hell, even his neighbor’s never-ending rap music beat the total absence of sound.

After passing a men’s bathroom and what might have once been an employee break area, he stepped out into a cavernous room with soaring ceilings and unboarded windows. A bird took wing, flitting among the rafters overhead.

Wood and metal racks that probably once held raw cotton or finished fabric appeared cleaned and somewhat patched, the floor less filthy than the rest of the building. Cases upon cases sat piled in a corner. Lucky set the Q-Beam down and ripped the top from one of the cartons. Roughly two dozen glass vials stared back at him. He held one up to the light. Unless he missed his guess, the vial matched the one he’d held in his hand in the conference room at Rosario.

He reached into his pocket for his cell phone to call Walter while slipping two vials into the waistband of his pants. His blood ran cold at a low, “Hold it right there...”

***

How will Lucky get himself out of this mess? Find out in Collusion, available now from Amber Allure. 

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Another Great Collusion Review!

Lisa at The Novel Approach awarded Collusion five stars and says:
If you read Diversion and loved it, you won’t want to miss out on Collusion. Eden Winters has delivered Lucky and Bo to a new place in their relationship, and I’m pretty anxious to see where they’ll go next.
Read entire review here: 

A Fabulous Review for Collusion

I woke up this morning to double good news. My latest novel, Collusion, has been released from Amber Allure. Then I saw a fabulous review for the book at Mrs. Condit and Friends Read Books.

Reviewer Lucky (Lucky? Hmmm....) had this to say:
So many things go on in this book. Some good (Bo & Lucky), some bad (Lucky in the children’s cancer ward), but there’s never a dull moment. Some happy, smiley ones (Lucky’s confrontation with the neighbor from hell), some tear-jerking ones (the cancer ward), but you *need* to know what’s going to happen. The story pulls you along to the ultimate, beautiful conclusion.
Lucky (the reviewer, not my protag) also awarded the book five sweet peas!
Read entire review here.

Collusion -- Now Available (And on Sale!)

Collusion, sequel to last year's Diversion, is now available at Amber Allure--and on sale!

For a limited time Amber Allure is offering the novel for a very pocket-easy $4.55, so if you've had your eye on this one, now's the time to buy. 


Dead men can’t love.

Former drug trafficker Richmond “Lucky” Lucklighter “died” in the line of duty while working off a ten-year sentence in service to the Southeastern Narcotics Bureau, only to be reborn as Simon “Lucky” Harrison. The newbie he trained, former Marine Bo Schollenberger, is now his partner on (and maybe off) the job. It’s hard to tell when Lucky doesn’t understand relationships or have a clue what any sane human is doing in his bed. Bo’s nice to have around, sure, but there’s none of that picking-out-china-together crap for Lucky.

While fighting PTSD, memories of a horrid childhood, and a prescription drug addiction, Bo is paying for his mistakes. Using his pharmacy license for the good guys provides the sort of education he never got in school. Undercover with his hard-headed partner, Bo learns that not everything is as it seems in the world of pharmaceuticals.

When a prescription drug shortage jeopardizes the patients at Rosario Children’s Cancer Center, it not only pits Bo and Lucky against predatory opportunists, but also each other. How can they tell who the villains are? The bad guys don’t wear black hats, but they might wear white coats.


Thursday, February 21, 2013

Contest Still Open for a Copy of Duet

Head over to my dear friend, P.D. Singer's site for an ode to men in Kilts and a chance to win a copy of Duet, available now from Dreamspinner Press.

Come join us!


Extra Scene From Collusion

Only three morre days until the publication of Collusion from Amber Allure!

The second leg of the Collusion blog hop takes place at Joyfully Jay's. She was kind enough to allow me to take over her blog for a day and post an extra scene that was cut from the novel. This deleted scenes goes a bit more in depth as to why Lucky and Keith growl so much at each other. A gun figures strongly into their animosity. To learn more, well, come join the fun, and hang out with Lucky once more....


Collusion will be available from Amber Allure, an imprint of Amber Quill Press, on Sunday, February 24.


Dead men can’t love.

Former drug trafficker Richmond “Lucky” Lucklighter “died” in the line of duty while working off a ten-year sentence in service to the Southeastern Narcotics Bureau, only to be reborn as Simon “Lucky” Harrison. The newbie he trained, former Marine Bo Schollenberger, is now his partner on (and maybe off) the job. It’s hard to tell when Lucky doesn’t understand relationships or have a clue what any sane human is doing in his bed. Bo’s nice to have around, sure, but there’s none of that picking-out-china-together crap for Lucky.

While fighting PTSD, memories of a horrid childhood, and a prescription drug addiction, Bo is paying for his mistakes. Using his pharmacy license for the good guys provides the sort of education he never got in school. Undercover with his hard-headed partner, Bo learns that not everything is as it seems in the world of pharmaceuticals.

When a prescription drug shortage jeopardizes the patients at Rosario Children’s Cancer Center, it not only pits Bo and Lucky against predatory opportunists, but also each other. How can they tell who the villains are? The bad guys don’t wear black hats, but they might wear white coats.


Writing in Reverse

I'm terribly sorry to be late in posting this. Two novels publishing within a week of each other has taken it's toll, and an accident.

The lovely Charlie Cochet was kind enough to host me on her blog, in celebration of the re-publication of Duet, from Dreamspinner Press. Did you know that the contemporary part of the story was written first, as a novella? Only after a beta asked, "Where's the rest of this?" did Aillil's family and homelife enter the picture.

Curious? Check out the post, "Writing in Reverse" at Charlie's blog. And while you're there, enter to win an ebook copy of the novel.

Find Duet at Dreamspinner Press.

A conqueror’s decree can’t separate Aillil Callaghan from his Scottish heritage. He wears his clan’s forbidden plaid with pride, awaiting the day he becomes Laird, restores his family’s name, and fights to free Scotland from English tyranny. An Englishman in his home? Abomination! Yet the tutor his father engaged for Aillil’s younger brothers may have something to teach the Callaghan heir as well.

Violinist and scholar Malcolm Byerly fled Kent in fear, seeking nothing more than a quiet post, eager minds to teach, and for no one to learn his secrets. He didn’t count on his charges’ English-hating barbarian of an older brother, or on red-and-green tartan concealing a kindred soul. A shared love of music breaks down the barriers between two worlds. 

Aillil’s father threatens their love, but a far more dangerous enemy tears them apart. They vanish into legend. 

Two centuries later, concert violinist Billy Byerly arrives at Castle Callaghan—and feels strangely at home. Legends speak of a Lost Laird who haunts the fortress in wait of his lover’s return. Billy doesn’t believe in legends, ghosts, or love that outlasts life. 

But the Lost Laird knows his own.

Monday, February 18, 2013

Love a lad in a kilt?

Love a lad in a kilt? Check out my guest post at pal P.D. Singers's blog. A comment gets your name in the hat for a copy of my latest release, Duet, featuring, you guessed it, a kilted Highlander!.

Deleted Collusion Scene

Want to see a deleted scene from my upcoming novel, Collusion?

Sorry, it's not Lucky and Bo during a steamy moment, but it does pack some heat. Find out how the whole Lucky/Keith rivalry began at Joyfully Jay!


Saturday, February 16, 2013

First Review of Duet, 2nd Edition!

It never fails. Whenever a new novel publishes, I'm very anxious about how it will be received. Then the reviews come in.

I'm happy to say that the first review for Duet, 2nd Edition has been posted, by none other than reviewer extraordinaire, Amos Lassen. Here's a bit of what Mr. Lassen has to say about Duet:

"It is with skill that Winters has created the characters of Aillil and Malcolm and she presents two wonderfully drawn characters in them. Here is a story that shows that fate is just that, fate and it cannot be fought against." 
And
"Here is a wonderful love story that spans time and place and that contains history and contemporary living."


Read his entire review at his site:


Find Duet at Dreamspinner Press, now available for preorder. The story publishes on Monday, February 18. 

Thursday, February 14, 2013

And the first post is....

Hey y'all! I'm guest blogging at the fabulous Elisa Rolle's, talking about where the ideas came from for Diversion and Collusion. 

Come on over!

Also, don't forget to enter for a chance to win an ebook copy of Collusion, or a signed print copy of Diversion and Collusion here: 

Collusion Release Party

In honor of the upcoming release of Collusion, I'm doing a blog tour. If you've found this post through a participating site, welcome! (Actually, however you found this post, welcome!)

This is a central location for readers at the various sites to enter to win copies of the book. Just leave your name and email contact information. On February 24 I'll pick two winners to receive an ebook copy of Collusion, and an additional winner will receive signed copies of both Diversion and Collusion, once the print book becomes available.

As each post goes online, I'll provide links to the articles. Good luck!



This contest is open only for those over eighteen who can legally possess such material in their area

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Giveaway for Collusion

Coming February 24th from Amber Allure--Collusion, sequel to Diversion. Bo and Lucky are back.

Head on over to Stumbling Over Chaos and enter to win an ebook copy.



Dead men can’t love.

Former drug trafficker Richmond “Lucky” Lucklighter “died” in the line of duty while working off a ten-year sentence in service to the Southeastern Narcotics Bureau, only to be reborn as Simon “Lucky” Harrison. The newbie he trained, former Marine Bo Schollenberger, is now his partner on (and maybe off) the job. It’s hard to tell when Lucky doesn’t understand relationships or have a clue what any sane human is doing in his bed. Bo’s nice to have around, sure, but there’s none of that picking-out-china-together crap for Lucky.

While fighting PTSD, memories of a horrid childhood, and a prescription drug addiction, Bo is paying for his mistakes. Using his pharmacy license for the good guys provides the sort of education he never got in school. Undercover with his hard-headed partner, Bo learns that not everything is as it seems in the world of pharmaceuticals.

When a prescription drug shortage jeopardizes the patients at Rosario Children’s Cancer Center, it not only pits Bo and Lucky against predatory opportunists, but also each other. How can they tell who the villains are? The bad guys don’t wear black hats, but they might wear white coats.




Just click on the black kitty to head to Stumbling Over Chaos, home of adorable kitties Chaos and Mayhem, and their human mom, Chris. 




Saturday, February 9, 2013

What's old has been made new again...

Several of my short titles have recently been unavailable, as their publisher contracts expired. I'm taking what I've learned in the past few years to improve on the original stories. I've got several reprints that will soon be back on the market:

Summer Boys

When I first wrote this short story, it was for Torquere Press's It's Gets Better fund raiser, and featured a story of "getting better." The word limit was 8,000, and I had to do a lot of trimming to meet that goal. Now that the story is mine again, it's over 12,000 and shows a lot more interaction between protagonists Ferris and Miko. I'll post links to the new, improved Summer Boys once it's published. And check out the lovely new cover by Zathyn Priest of Scarlet Tie Designs.


Ferris Stuart has two missions to accomplish while on vacation on Oahu: research for a new Hawaiian Islands themed hotel and have a little fun, something he hasn't had much of since his partner died two years ago. So far he's managed to halfheartedly accomplish the first task; however, he's failing miserably at the second. That is, until a charming islander shows him both the locale and how to start living again.


***

Another story that has returned to me, contact-wise, is The Match Before Christmas, featuring a man's misadventures with Internet dating, and his desire to find someone special before the Christmas Holidays. The stunning cover was created by my dear friend, Jared Rackler, of Jared Rackler Designs. Isn't it lovely?



Candlelight, mistletoe, gaily wrapped packages beneath a trimmed tree, and someone to share it with. That's all Barry Richards wants for Christmas. Desperate for a traditional holiday, he takes drastic measures. Creating a profile on "GetaDate.com," he hopes to find the perfect man in a matter of weeks. One date after another goes sour, while all around him friends are falling in love, and Barry starts to lose faith.The first snow falls and the world is filled with seasonal cheer, all except for Barry, for whom time is running out. Facing the prospect of a lonely holiday, he tries just once more to make The Match Before Christmas.


***

Look for both stories to make a reappearance in late February or early March. 

Friday, February 8, 2013

We Have a Blurb!

I've not received the cover art yet, but Amber Allure has sent me the official blurb for Collusion.

Sequel to the Amber Allure best-seller Diversion…

Dead men can’t love.

Former drug trafficker Richmond “Lucky” Lucklighter “died” in the line of duty while working off a ten-year sentence in service to the Southeastern Narcotics Bureau, only to be reborn as Simon “Lucky” Harrison. The newbie he trained, former Marine Bo Schollenberger, is now his partner on (and maybe off) the job. It’s hard to tell when Lucky doesn’t understand relationships or have a clue what any sane human is doing in his bed. Bo’s nice to have around, sure, but there’s none of that picking-out-china-together crap for Lucky.

While fighting PTSD, memories of a horrid childhood, and a prescription drug addiction, Bo is paying for his mistakes. Using his pharmacy license for the good guys provides the sort of education he never got in school. Undercover with his hard-headed partner, Bo learns that not everything is as it seems in the world of pharmaceuticals.

When a prescription drug shortage jeopardizes the patients at Rosario Children’s Cancer Center, it not only pits Bo and Lucky against predatory opportunists, but also each other. How can they tell who the villains are? The bad guys don’t wear black hats, but they might wear white coats.

Look for Collusion to publish the weekend of February 23 from Amber Allure. 

Thursday, February 7, 2013

Enter to Win a Copy of Duet

In less than two weeks Dreamspinner Press will release the second edition of Duet, an enhanced version of the original story. In honor of the occasion, the wonderful Chris from Stumbling Over Chaos is hosting a giveaway for an ebook copy. All you have to do is go to her site and leave a comment on the post saying you'd like to enter

And while you're there, be sure to pay homage to Choas and Mayhem, two adorably photogenic kitties. Also, check out the Linkity, and my favorite, "Misadventures in Stock Photography."

Just  click on the black cat to be magically swept away to the land of Chaos, Mayhem, and ebook givewaways.


Saturday, February 2, 2013

Eden Winters and the Great Car Caper


There once was a m/m writer named Eden, who worked hard at her evil day job and saved her pennies in order to fulfill her dreams of purchasing a new car. 

It seems she'd promised her granddaughter, "When you're able to drive, I'll give you my car, and I'll get another." You see, Eden loved her nine year old Hyundai Sonata so well, that the only way she could part with it was to give it to someone who'd continue the love.

Then came the matter of choosing a new car. What to get? What to get? Having loved her Sonata so very much, Eden didn't even seriously consider any other car. Her goal was to have a shiny new vehicle in her driveway by May, enabling her to hand over the keys to the old car on her grandchild's birthday. 

One day Eden was having lunch before going to the grocery store, for she never liked to go to the store hungry, when the idea occurred to her, "If I'm considering a new car, I should go look at one on the lot."

Long story short, an hour later Eden signed papers on her brand new 2013 Hyundai Sonata. The only problem at the moment was the car was very sophisticated, and our heroine, alas, was not. Furthermore, the voice activated navigation system believed Eden had an accent, a fact Eden firmly denies. When asking the car to dial "Sarah" the car dialed "Eileen" instead. But I digress. 

So, Eden drove away in the very first car she'd ever picked out for herself, extremely pleased. She shopped for groceries, as originally planned, then, because the car didn't understand her, she used her phone navigation to find the nearest route back home. 

Wow! The car handled great at high speeds out on the interstate! And got great gas mileage. She grinned as the odometer rolled from seven miles to eight, to nine. She stopped by the mailbox on the way to her house, and as she was backing up, heard an ominous clunk! 

Oh noes! Eden leapt from her car, terrified she'd somehow wrecked her new car. The fender hung off the vehicle. She searched everywhere, but couldn't find a thing she might have hit. She called the salesman, who insisted he'd never heard of such, and he told her to call roadside assistance. Cold, alone in the dark only 1/8 mile from home, Eden waited, doing what any red-blooded American would do in such circumstance --she bitched and moaned via Facebook, comforting herself with the well wishes of friends. She'd just driven 65 mph on the Interstate, and at 2 mph the car falls apart?

A tow-truck arrived, driven by a patented SC good-ole-boy, who simply snapped the fender back on, saying, "Somebody at the factory just didn't install it right." 

Very grateful, Eden thanked the man and went home. 

The next day she stared out the window frequently at her new car, too afraid to drive it. 

Monday came and she left home early in the morning for work. Flap, flap, flap. What the hell? Flap, flap, flap, scraaaaaappppppe. In the cold and dark, Eden pulled over to the side of a lonely country road to discover that the fender well around the tire was broken, flapping, and dragging. She continued on to work driving 30 mph, with emergency flashers on. As soon as the dealership opened she called, only to be told once again, "We've never heard of that. Are you sure you didn't hit something?" They also instructed her to call roadside assistance again. 

She rode with the tow truck driver to the dealership, declined a loaner car, and reclaimed her nine year old vehicle, which sat in the parking lot pending a willing friend to drive it home. 

The last Eden heard, the maintenance manager ordered a new fender. She wasn't pleased, for she'd bought a new car, not a repaired one. Many phone calls followed, until the dealership agreed to give Eden a brand new car. 

Eden was scared of design flaws and worried the new car would shed parts too. As it turned out, after examining the car from underneath, the maintenance department determined that the car had been damaged in transit on a car hauler and that the driver had clipped the bumper back in place and failed to report the damage to the car's undercarriage. 

Wow! What a relief to know the car probably won't fall apart. It's been twenty-four hours since Eden got her new car, and the fenders are still on. She counts that as a win.