Monday, March 30, 2015

Open Submission Calls from Torquere Press

THE CASE OF THE MYSTERIOUS MYSTERY
Cozy, gothic, suspenseful, funny, we love mysteries with strong LGBTQ characters who solve puzzles and fall in love.
Please send your 10,000-60,000 word submissions to submissions@torquerepress.com with “The Case of…” and your story title in the subject field. Please see our writer's guidelines page for royalty rates, formatting and submission information.

GOTHIC MYSTERIES
We’re looking for mysteries set in darkly atmospheric locations, featuring resourceful LGBTQ characters and a strong romantic subplot.
Please send your 10,000-60,000 word submissions to submissions@torquerepress.com with “Gothic mystery” and your story title in the subject field. Please see our writer's guidelines page for royalty rates, formatting and submission information.

COZY MYSTERIES WITH A DASH OF ROMANCE
Exciting and so very comforting, there’s just something about cozy mysteries. Surprise us with idyllic settings, clue gathering, and resourceful LGBTQ characters. We want amateur sleuths, private eyes, and intrepid detectives, solving puzzles and falling in love.
Please send your 10,000-60,000 word submissions to submissions@torquerepress.com with “Cozy mystery” and your story title in the subject field. Please see our writer's guidelines page for royalty rates, formatting and submission information.

COGS AND GEARS
There’s always something about stories involving steampunk, cyberpunk, dieselpunk, biopunk, or any version of punk you enjoy that gets our cogs in a bunch. Bring us your corsets, body mods, goggles, clockwork, dystopias and bioengineered plots.
We’re looking for fully realized, romantic LGBT punk stories with HEA or HFN endings. Blow our minds while you build your worlds to show steamy romance lit by gaslight.
Stories should range from 10,000 to 60,000 words. Longer stories may be considered, but please query first. Stories will be contracted for two years, at our standard royalty rates. Please see our writer's guidelines page for royalty rates, formatting and submission information.
Guidelines:
    GLBT stories -- f/f, m/m, m/m/f
    10,000 words and up
    standard royalty rates apply
    exclusive electronic 2 year contract
For queries or submissions, contact General Manager/Submissions Editor Kristi Boulware at submissions@torquerepress.com
Please put "Cogs and Gears" in the subject line of all emails.
Follow our general guidelines.

RAINBOWS COME IN ALL COLORS
Love stories come in all flavors and all sexual orientations and/or all gender identities. We want to see you explore all colors of the rainbow that differ from the standard gay or lesbian romance.
Bring us your stories of trans, queer, bisexual, asexual, pansexual and polyamorous relationships.  Your characters sexual or gender identity should be central to the story but basic story genre can be varied.  Let’s take this opportunity to give everyone their happy ending. We’re looking for fully realized, romantic stories with HEA or HFN endings.
Stories should range from 10,000 to 60,000 words. Longer stories may be considered, but please query first. Stories will be contracted for two years, at our standard royalty rates. Please see our writer's guidelines page for royalty rates, formatting and submission information.
Guidelines:
    10,000 words and up
    standard royalty rates apply
    exclusive electronic 2 year contract
For queries or submissions, contact General Manager/Submissions Editor Kristi Boulware at submissions@torquerepress.com
Please put "Rainbows Come in all Colors" in the subject line of all emails.
Follow our general guidelines.

TALES OF LEATHER
Like your short stories with a little bondage, dominance, spanking, or submission? So do we! In fact, we like BDSM play stories so much that we're giving them their own category. Tales of Leather will be guaranteed to bring on all the hot BDSM action that readers crave. We're looking for romance stories with happy endings, engaging characters, and a fresh point of view. Stories should range from 10,000 to 50,000 words. Longer stories may be considered, but please query first. Stories will be contracted for two years, at our standard royalty rates. Please see our writer's guidelines page for royalty rates, formatting and submission information.
Guidelines:
- GLBT stories -- f/f, m/m, m/m/f
- 10,000 words and up
- standard royalty rates apply
- exclusive electronic 2 year contract
For queries or submissions, contact General Manager/Submissions Editor Kristi Boulware at submissions@torquerepress.com
Please put "Tales of Leather" in the subject line of all emails.
Follow our general guidelines.

SPICE IT UP
Who doesn't need a little spice in their life? The Spice it Up line has openings starting in January 2012. Stories need to be inspired by a spice or herb, or the spice must feature prominently in the story. To see what spices have already been used, see our bookstore at www.torquerebooks.com. Spices may be duplicated, but all stories must be original in theme and content. We're looking for romance stories with happy endings, engaging characters, and a fresh point of view. Stories should range from 10,000 to 30,000 words. Longer stories may be considered, but please query first. Stories will be contracted for two years, at our standard royalty rates. Please see our writer's guidelines page for royalty rates, formatting and submission information.
Guidelines:
- GLBT stories -- f/f, m/m, m/m/f
- 10,000 words and up
- standard royalty rates apply
- exclusive electronic 2 year contract
For queries or submissions, contact senior editor Lorna Hinson at submissions@torquerepress.com
Please put "Spice It Up" in the subject line of all emails.

Follow our general guidelines

Special Submission Calls from MLR Press

Masquerade!
You’ve been invited to The Masquerade Ball. Lower your inhibitions! Be who you think you aren’t!

Why is it so freeing to hide behind a mask? To dress up in a costume and have no one know who you are? What would you do? Try something risqué? Go after that one you’ve had your eye on but didn’t go for him because…you’re shy, don’t think you have a chance, think he’s ‘out of your league’?

SUBMISSION DEADLINE: July 30, 2015 – stories will release during the month of October


What’s My Purpose?

We all bounce around before we know what (or who) we want to be. Whether it’s a just starting out guy trying to figure out what now after graduating from college or an older guy that gets let go through layoffs or someone just unhappy with their life deciding to change – everyone needs someone to stand by them as they figure it all out.
 
SUBMISSION DEADLINE: May 1, 2015 – stories will release starting in July 2015

Second Chances
Don’t we all wish we had a second chance at something? What if it’s a second chance with the love of your life? Misunderstandings happen. People change. Priorities get skewed. What if you could get that second chance with the love of your life, after things have gone oh so wrong?
SUBMISSION DEADLINE: May 5, 2015


Any questions can be sent to Kris Jacen at KrisJacen@mlrpress.com
Submissions should be sent to special_submissions@mlrpress.com

Anthology Submissin Call from Torquere Press

OPEN CALLS FOR ANTHOLOGIES
Our anthology calls are a great place to get your feet wet with a short story, or to explore a theme without committing to a full novella or novel. For all anthology calls, we’re looking for fully realized, romantic LGBT stories about the chosen monthly theme. Make us laugh, make us cry, or surprise us and make us glow with happy endings!

Please send your submissions following the below specified word count to submissions@torquerepress.com with the title of the theme (ie: Torqued Tales) and your story title in the subject field. Please see our general submissions guidelines for formatting etc. Each theme has a title and due date listed on the individual call.

If the completed anthology reaches a minimum word count of 60K, the book may go to print. In that case, payment is a $35 flat fee for first time electronic and print rights for three years, as well as an electronic and print copy of the book. Print rights are reserved for six months. If the print rights are not optioned, all print rights revert to the author.


We'll also be releasing the story on its own in ebook format. Royalties for the single title electronic version will be 45% net on books sold through Torquere Books and 35% net on books sold through our distributors, again for a period of three years.

PLAID NIGHTS – DEADLINE APRIL 15
Ach! Nothing says sex like a brawny man in a kilt. From the Scottish Highlands to the Irish Fling, mail carriers to fashion runways to kilt-blowing events, everybody loves a man in a kilt. We want your hottest stories, historical, contemporary, or otherwise, serving up a heaping helping of kilt-wearing hunks and the men who love them.
Please send your 3000 -10,000 word submissions to submissions@torquerepress.com with "Plaid Nights" and your story title in the subject field. Please see our general submissions guidelines for formatting etc. Deadline for submission is April 15, 2015; all submissions will be held and reviewed after the deadline.
If the completed anthology reaches a minimum word count of 60K, the book may go to print. In that case, payment is a $35 flat fee for first time electronic and print rights for three years, as well as an electronic and print copy of the book.  Print rights are reserved for six months. If the print rights are not optioned, all print rights revert to the author.
We'll also be releasing the story on its own in ebook format. Royalties for the single title electronic version will be 45% net on books sold through Torquere Books and 35% net on books sold through our distributors, again for a period of three years.

FIRST TIMERS – DEADLINE MAY 15
It's cherry-popping time! Be it a virgin lover under the covers or a virgin cop undercover, nothing stirs that special spot in our hearts (and heats up various other parts of the anatomy) like a first-timer. Send us your stories of first loves, first kinks, first threesomes, first-time parents, first shifts, or first base hits or misses!
Please send your 3000 -10,000 word submissions to submissions@torquerepress.com with "First Timers" and your story title in the subject field. Please see our general submissions guidelines for formatting etc. Deadline for submission is May 15, 2015; all submissions will be held and reviewed after the deadline.
If the completed anthology reaches a minimum word count of 60K, the book may go to print. In that case, payment is a $35 flat fee for first time electronic and print rights for three years, as well as an electronic and print copy of the book.  Print rights are reserved for six months. If the print rights are not optioned, all print rights revert to the author.
We'll also be releasing the story on its own in ebook format. Royalties for the single title electronic version will be 45% net on books sold through Torquere Books and 35% net on books sold through our distributors, again for a period of three years.

EXCHANGE OF POWER – DEADLINE JUNE 15
Even Alphas need to learn a lesson now and then. We're looking for your sizzling paranormal stories of power exchanges between Doms and subs, Alphas and betas, Tops and bottoms. Maybe your wolf-shifter alpha needs an attitude adjustment from his beta, or a vampire prince needs a reminder of what it was like to be human. Give us your hottest paranormal dynamics flip!
Please send your 3000 -10,000 word submissions to submissions@torquerepress.com with "Exchange of Power" and your story title in the subject field. Please see our general submissions guidelines for formatting etc. Deadline for submission is June 15, 2015; all submissions will be held and reviewed after the deadline.
If the completed anthology reaches a minimum word count of 60K, the book may go to print. In that case, payment is a $35 flat fee for first time electronic and print rights for three years, as well as an electronic and print copy of the book.  Print rights are reserved for six months. If the print rights are not optioned, all print rights revert to the author.
We'll also be releasing the story on its own in ebook format. Royalties for the single title electronic version will be 45% net on books sold through Torquere Books and 35% net on books sold through our distributors, again for a period of three years.

HAUNTED HOTTIES – DEADLINE JULY 15
What's better than a great ghost story just in time for Halloween? A great ghost LOVE story! From haunted houses to haunted underwear, from howling at the moon to mooning your werewolf lover, there's no shortage of paranormal creatures to tap for a blazing hot haunting!
Please send your 3000 -10,000 word submissions to submissions@torquerepress.com with "Haunted Hotties" and your story title in the subject field. Please see our general submissions guidelines for formatting etc. Deadline for submission is July 15, 2015; all submissions will be held and reviewed after the deadline.
If the completed anthology reaches a minimum word count of 60K, the book may go to print. In that case, payment is a $35 flat fee for first time electronic and print rights for three years, as well as an electronic and print copy of the book.  Print rights are reserved for six months. If the print rights are not optioned, all print rights revert to the author.
We'll also be releasing the story on its own in ebook format. Royalties for the single title electronic version will be 45% net on books sold through Torquere Books and 35% net on books sold through our distributors, again for a period of three years.

LOVE IN A UNIFORM – DEADLINE AUG 15
Who doesn't love a man in uniform? All kinds of uniforms can make for sizzling fantasies, including military, police, fire, EMT, postmen, or deliverymen, when they're stuffed with hot men hungry for a good time!
Please send your 3000 -10,000 word submissions to submissions@torquerepress.com with "Love in a Uniform" and your story title in the subject field. Please see our general submissions guidelines for formatting etc. Deadline for submission is August 15, 2015; all submissions will be held and reviewed after the deadline.
If the completed anthology reaches a minimum word count of 60K, the book may go to print. In that case, payment is a $35 flat fee for first time electronic and print rights for three years, as well as an electronic and print copy of the book.  Print rights are reserved for six months. If the print rights are not optioned, all print rights revert to the author.
We'll also be releasing the story on its own in ebook format. Royalties for the single title electronic version will be 45% net on books sold through Torquere Books and 35% net on books sold through our distributors, again for a period of three years.

HOLIDAY WANT ADS – DEADLINE SEPT 15
Who needs Santa when you have Craig's List? Maybe your hero's hunting at a garage sale and finds his perfect mate among the power tools and old golf balls. Or, perhaps he's put out an ad for a housekeeper, and finds someone he wants to play house with instead! The plots are only as limited as your imagination, and we want to see your hottest Want Ad stories!
Please send your 3000 -10,000 word submissions to submissions@torquerepress.com with "Holiday Want Ads" and your story title in the subject field. Please see our general submissions guidelines for formatting etc. Deadline for submission is September 15, 2015; all submissions will be held and reviewed after the deadline.
If the completed anthology reaches a minimum word count of 60K, the book may go to print. In that case, payment is a $35 flat fee for first time electronic and print rights for three years, as well as an electronic and print copy of the book.  Print rights are reserved for six months. If the print rights are not optioned, all print rights revert to the author.
We'll also be releasing the story on its own in ebook format. Royalties for the single title electronic version will be 45% net on books sold through Torquere Books and 35% net on books sold through our distributors, again for a period of three years.

Friday, March 27, 2015

Book Blast and giveaway~ Max and the Prince by RJ Scott


Don't forget to enter the contest at the end of the post for a chance to win a $15 Amazon/ARe gift cards  and 2 further prizes of RJ Scott e-books
 


Max and The Prince – Bodyguards Inc, book 3
Book 1 – Bodyguard To A Sex God
Book 2 – The Ex Factor

Bodyguard Max Connery is used to being mistaken for being younger than he is.

Being carded every time he buys a beer is usual. Even though he's just turned twenty eight and has two tours in Afghanistan as a pilot under his belt.

When a threat is made on the life of a prince attending University in the UK, Max is the perfect choice to blend in with students and to keep Prince Lucien safe. Even if it means joining the swim team to be by his side.

But, when death visits the University, abruptly this job is a long way past keeping the prince happy and safe. Instead Max has to keep Lucien alive.

Buy Links




Unedited Excerpt

“I’m only an hour away,” Max assured him as they joined the traffic heading towards Oxford.
“It’s fine.”
“We should take the time for you to go over everything again. I might not look like I’m listening but I will be.” He indicated and moved to the right lane to overtake a horse trailer then back in to the left lane all while he talked.
“Everything?”
“Every little detail from the time you decided to drink and before that if you think it helps. I want to know all the characters.”
“You sound like it’s a play.”
Max shot him a look, his serious sapphire blue gaze focused on Lucien for a split second before he focused back on the road. “It’s like a play I guess. The more you know the players then the easier it is to identify the bad guy.”
“When do I get to hear about your play?” Lucien asked. He was teasing, but also intrigued by the journey Max had taken to end up being Lucien’s bodyguard.
“I’m here. For you. That’s all you need to know.” He didn’t look at Lucien as he said it. “Now eyes front and start from the drinking.”
Lucien sighed noisily. He didn’t want to go back there, to the point where his entire life had crumbled with grief. He was desperate to avoid confronting the decisions he had made then. Not coming out to his family in such a dramatic way, that had actually been a good thing. His mom had just turned round and suggested that it was all well and good being like that in private but that is where it should stay. His dad had agreed stiffly. No, the decision to bury his grief in whiskey, or vodka, or whatever else he had to hand was one he regretted and was more than a little embarrassed to share with this put together guy who had managed to take Teddy to his knees.
“Okay, so the drinking. Guess that’s where I need to start.”
“Was it your decision to drink?”
Temper snatched his breath. “What kind of a question is that?” The way it was worded implied he didn’t know his own mind. Then he realized what he was thinking and just how stupid he sounded in his own head.
“A reasonable one,” Max said. “Did someone encourage you to drink? Were you led astray, was there someone who wanted you to commit some kind of indiscretion? Did you have a boyfriend? A wannabe lover? A friend?”
Temper subsided as quick as it rose and Lucien shook his head. “I apologize.”
“And you can stop doing that.”
“What?”
“Apologizing.”
“Sorry. I mean... Okay…” Settling himself back in the car and attempting to relax he closed his eyes briefly. He could do this. He hadn’t had a boyfriend. Edward was his first and actually his last. One heated night of sex and that was it. I may as well be a virgin. “So,” he began carefully. “There was no boyfriend, or wannabe lover as you put it. I hadn’t exactly come out to anyone, hell I’d barely come out to myself. Seb was ill for a long time and I was close to him, I even had a tutor so I didn’t have to go to boarding school. I think my parents liked that there was someone for Seb as it definitely wasn’t going to be them.” He winced as he said it. One didn’t speak badly about one’s parents. One was respectful.
“You’re not close? As a family?”
“No. Yes.” He sighed. “Not really. What about you?” He glanced sideways to see the faint tightening of Max’s jaw.
“We’re not talking about me,” he said.
“Sorry.”
“Stop apologizing.”
“Sorr—jeez…”
Lucien felt the heat rise in his face. This was going to be one hell of a long car journey.

About RJ

RJ Scott has been writing since age six, when she was made to stay in at lunchtime for an infraction involving cookies. She was told to write a story and two sides of paper about a trapped princess later, a lover of writing was born.

As an avid reader herself, she can be found reading anything from thrillers to sci-fi to horror. However, her first real true love will always be the world of romance where she takes cowboys, bodyguards, firemen and billionaires (to name a few) and writes dramatic and romantic stories of love and passion between these men.

With over seventy titles to her name and counting, she is the author of the award winning book, The Christmas Throwaway. She is also known for the Texas series charting the lives of Riley and Jack, and the Sanctuary series following the work of the Sanctuary Foundation and the people it protects.

Her goal is to write stories with a heart of romance, a troubled road to reach happiness, and most importantly, that hint of a happily ever after.

www.tumblr.com/blog/rjscott  (some NSFW (not safe for work) photos)

Competition to win $15 Amazon/Are giftcard, and 2 further prizes of RJ Scott e-books – closes 11 April at 00:01 GMT (London)


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thursday, March 26, 2015

WRITERS WRITE... WRITING PARTNERS FEUD ~ White Without the Contrast of Black




There is something about evil that draws me into its labyrinth of dark heinousness. There is mystery in the pain of it, there is temptation in the promise of decadent pleasure, there is that longing to surrender without thought or restrain to the unknown and sometimes to the very well known, things one dappled with and found irresistibly wondrous. There it is, my secret. I adore evil. To clarify, I adore writing about it. I have a healthy respect for the muse and movement of it in the undercurrent and the potency it provides a story.

Plotinus in 200 AD wrote, "To deny evil a place among realities is necessarily to deny a way with the good as well." I am certain you often heard that evil cannot exist without good. For certain how can white exist without the contrast of black. The clench and chills of the reader is heightened when there are sharp defined lines between an honorable character facing a foe of a merciless horrendous nature. Though we might surrender to providing a singular redeeming quality to a foe, it is often over-shadowed by their true fully-unredeemable evil.

Yet, what does one do when faced with multiple evils. There are times a hero/shero must make a choice and according to Thomas à Kempis, "Of two evils always choose the lesser." As a writer with the power, we say bull-bleep that, destroy both, or maybe allow one to decimate the other. There are infinite options that makes our job utterly delightful.

Sometimes, though, as I or we joyfully enter the mind of the monster, as I tweak and twitter among his/her psychosis, maniacal obsessions and infinite delusions, I feel like a co-conspirator, for to quote Martin Luther King, Jr. "To ignore evil is to become an accomplice to it." And, in the sense of the literary voyeurs that is exactly what we are doing. We are allowing it to thrive and grow, to play with the good people of that particular universe, torment them, hurt them and all without an ounce of remorse. Is that terribly heinous of us? Does that make us monsters as well? I sometimes wonder what is so twisted inside me that makes this such fun, for in truth, I take to the villain(s) much more easily than Zi does. Should I be concerned for my mental health?

Franz Kafka wrote, "What we call evil is only a necessary moment in our endless development." Hence, the answer. I know the effect evil has on the reader. And I want that terror to dip deeply into their primal fear until every bump and squeak has paralyzed their need to scream, battered pulses to quickening, and have their breaths shorten and raspy. That is how I see my/our writing endeavors when it comes to devising the most beastly of all scoundrels, our work is growing into the perfect piece to scare the beejees out of our readers. So, if it takes Angelica and/or Zi to be a bit evil hungry in the sense of respecting it as a fabulous plot device then so be it.

In reality, we both hate evil, hate the clawing and degenerate nature of its makeup, hate the existence of those that hurt others for hurt's sake or even worse for their own demented pleasure. The truth is that the joy of allowing the monsters their day of victory resides in the outcome of each story. In thawing their evilness, rubbing their self-satisfied smugness into the realization of their inability to succeed, the evidence of their cowardliness and the actuality of their failure is what, we believe, gives the reader the greatest pleasure, and it is they that we so humbly serve.
***
We'd love to hear from anyone interested in what we do. Anyone who writes us at writingteamcw@yahoo.com (Write - Blog in subject line) and leaves an s-mail address, we will send you a gift and add you to any future mailings.












Monday, March 23, 2015

Discover Misfits by Garrett Leigh

About Misfits

Restaurant owner Tom Fearnes has loved his partner Cass for as long as he can remember, but their work often keeps them apart. When he meets a striking young man named Jake on the vibrant streets of Camden Town, their heady first encounter takes an unexpected turn.

Jake Thompson can hardly believe his luck when he wakes up in Tom’s bed. Tom is gorgeous, kind, and . . . taken. Tom’s explanation of his open relationship leaves Jake cold, but Tom is too tempting, and when hard times force Jake to accept Tom’s helping hand, he finds himself between two men who’ve lost their way.


Cass Pearson is a troubled soul. He loves Tom with all he has, but some days it feels like he hasn’t much to give. Jake seems like the perfect solution. Cass risks everything to push Jake and Tom together, but Jake resists, wary, until the darkness of Cass’s past comes to call. Then Jake finds himself the last man standing, and it’s time to dig deep and shine a light for the men he’s grown to love.

About the author

Garrett Leigh is a British writer and book designer, currently working for Dreamspinner Press, Loose Id, Riptide Publishing, and Black Jazz Press. Her protagonists will always always be tortured, crippled, broken, and deeply flawed. Throw in a tale of enduring true love, some stubbly facial hair, and a bunch of tattoos, and you’ve got yourself a Garrett special.
When not writing, Garrett can generally be found procrastinating on Twitter, cooking up a storm, or sitting on her behind doing as little as possible. That, and dreaming up new ways to torture her characters. Garrett believes in happy endings; she just likes to make her boys work for it.

Garrett also works as a freelance cover artist for various publishing houses and independent authors under the pseudonym G.D. Leigh. For cover art info, please visit blackjazzpress.com.

Social media:
Website: http://garrettleigh.com
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/Garrett_Leigh
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/garrettleighbooks
Cover art enquiries: blackjazzdesign@gmail.com

Welcome Spencer Dryden today

Please give a warm welcome to author Spencer Dryden who is sitting down to chat withme about their new book, The Substitute.

So tell us about your latest or upcoming release. What is this gem about?

"The Substitute" is another in my series of tradesmen tales. In this story, a union journeyman plumber risks his career by assuming a false identity to substitute for an injured buddy who owns a non-union plumbing business. "Gary's" day turns surreal when he arrives at the first appointment and discovers the client is expecting sex and not plumbing services.

How often does your muse distract you from day to day minutiae?

I live in the Frozen tundra of Minnesota. My muse resides at my adopted home of Summer Haven, Florida (USA). She doesn't come around much when I am here in the cold but fills my mind with stories when I'm walking the beach in Summer Haven.

If you could be any paranormal creature what would you be

I don't know if The Terminator is a paranormal creature but I'd like to be a killer cyborg, charged with hunting down and brutally dispatching bad guys in serious need of killing.

What do you do when you’re not writing?

I shovel snow. Actually all our snow fell out east this year. In real life I am a handyman for hire. My stories usually have confrontations with real life problems suitable for HGTV. I think by grounding my stories in the  reality of leaky faucets, it helps make the fantasy elements more believable.

Are any of your characters like you?

Yes, my main male characters tend to be like me, self effacing, witty, but sometimes clueless about the wiles of women. As a writer I think it's important to have characters who can reveal emotional truths. I'm not a good enough writer yet to create characters out of thin air and imbue them with traits I don't understand.

Do you have a favourite quote from any of your book(s)?

 I have used a line in several of my stories that comes from real life. Back in college (eons ago) a group of us guys played basketball on Friday nights, then went out for copious quantities of beer. Over beers, one of the guys had ants in his pants telling us about a girl he had just met who invited him for dinner on Saturday night. The last thing she said to him was "Rest up." Wow.

If a movie or TV production company chose to produce your books into a series of shows or movies, who would your ideal cast be?

For "The Substitute" my male character "Gary" could be Ben Affleck or Matt Damon. "Gary" meets two very different women in the story. The first is the curvaceous, lusty Katherine "Cat" Reynolds who I see as Eva Mendez. The second woman is very much the opposite, she is tall, blond, thin, reserved and very chilly at first, ideally played by Nicole Kidman.


If "The Substitute" is ever is made into a movie I want to be on the set. I love the characters all these fine actors have played, but I also have a thing for Eva Mendez.

The Substitute
Breathless Press
Contemporary Romance

A substitute plumber's world turns upside down when he discovers his buddy's business is providing more than plumbing services to an exclusive female clientele.

A journeyman plumber breaks union rules, risking the loss of his career, and assumes a false identity to substitute for an injured friend who owns a non-union plumbing shop. When "Gary" arrives on the job, he is stunned to discover that the client is expecting sex and not plumbing services. It's the beginning of a day of surprises.
Motivated by his obligation to a friend and seduced by the allure of the client, "Gary" has some of the best sex of his life. He is at peace until he overhears the client making an immediate referral to a friend. Torn between conscience and friendship, he accepts the referral.
His day turns again as Britta initially spurns his services, much to "Gary's" relief, then asks him to do some plumbing work. While he is working, Britta slowly drops her hostile manner, sharing more of her personal story. "Gary" finds himself longing for a deeper connection, but has to dispel Britta's feelings of inadequacy and deal with his hidden identity.
Teaser:
One minute I was getting ready to install a new faucet for this really hot divorcee. The next thing I knew, she was naked, splayed out on the massive onyx granite kitchen island of her fabulous McMansion. Her legs over my shoulders, my work pants on the floor, I'm banging her furiously. She was screaming and panting, heavy breasts flopping like luscious melons, her pussy pouring out love juice over my cock while she clutched the backs of her thighs. Her head thrashed in the pile of her frosted, layered mane of silver and black hair. She was so strong I thought she was going to lift my two-hundred-pound frame from the floor as her back arched in the agony of a hard orgasm.
WTF?
I was breaking all the rules that day, but the last one I ever expected to break was fucking a client on the clock. But technically, she wasn't my client.
My strange odyssey began when my plumbing trade school buddy, Steve, called me in desperation from the ER where he was being treated for a severely turned ankle.
"Dude, you gotta take this job for me today." His voice was full of mirth, making me suspect he was loaded with painkillers.
"Steve, you know I can't do that. I'm a union journeyman, and you're a non-union shop."
I couldn't work for one of my best friends, not within the rules the union had set for us. Rules that protected us from exploitation, but limited our choices.
"It's just one job, goddamnit. I don't have anyone else I can trust."
"Yeah, but that one job could cost me my career."
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Author bio and links
Spencer Dryden is a new to writing fiction, but an old guy on the threshold of draining any reserves left in Medicare and Social Security. In real life he is a handyman, an at-home dad, inventor, and web videographer, living a quiet life in the frozen tundra of Minnesota, USA.
He earned an MBA from a prestigious Midwestern university but is so far behind on the career earnings scale of his peers that the university has offered to refund his tuition if he will return his diploma and disavow his affiliation, lest he continue to denigrate the school's impeccable brand.
He has a beautiful trophy wife ready to spend his royalties. Like all good romance writers, he has a cat but prefers to pet his wife.
This is his fourth work published by Breathless Press.
He can be reached at multiple locations:
Check out his website: http://www.fictionbyspencer.com/
He's on Google+ : https://plus.google.com/+SpencerDryden
Tweet Him at: @SpencerDryden
He is a regular contributor to the multiauthor blog, Oh Get A Grip: http://ohgetagrip.blogspot.com
And Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100008150288001
If you liked this book, please leave a review at Breathless Press or at Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/goodreadscomspencer_dryden

Talking with author Franny Armstrong

Welcome Breathless Press author Franny Armstrong today...

So tell us about your latest or upcoming release. What is this gem about?

In the Toxic Tango Troop series, I have Jinn & Toxic, and Minx Juliette, but soon will have a hot and steamy story, book three, Blaque Russian. The story continues with a sexy black man with Captain Tab McTavish's kidnapped sister, Tara. (from the Jinn & Toxic) She is a feisty female who gives the impression that she's delicate. That can prove to be a deadly mistake when she's crossed.

·        How often does your muse distract you from day to day minutiae?

My muses (two of them) keep me hopping night and day. I live in the world of the stories I write. Every day I'm on the computer for hours on end, creating challenges for the heroes/heroines, and putting up road blocks for the villains. I love to live in those places.

 If you could be any paranormal creature what would you be?

I write about psychics, and seeing as I am one, I love to embellish on their abilities, giving them unusual powers. It's fun to have them battle villains with their own gifts. If it had to be a creature, I think a Pegasus would be great!

What do you do when you’re not writing?

When I'm not writing, I'm promoting my books or editing them. There's never a dull moment in my life, but I do tend to watch TV in the evenings to calm the chatter in my mind. The characters tend to pull me back, sometimes keeping me awake all night long, writing scene after scene until they release me.

Are any of your characters like you?

I think there is a little bit of me in each of my characters. Even the villains have characteristics that I share. Not bad ones though. LOL. The heroines have my determination to protect those I love, and live challenges that I only dream of. I live through them vicariously.

Do you have a favorite quote from any of your book(s)?

Yes, lol. I do. This is from my favorite scene in Minx Juliette:
"Eat your food," he said, growling.
Julie gave a low, throaty laugh, and took another mouthful. His hand shook a bit, and he spilled some of the gravy on her chest. This time, she said,
"Would you care to lick it off?"
To her surprise, Lope leapt to his feet, banging his head on the ceiling. She snickered and then bit her lip to stop it.
"What's wrong?" she asked with an innocent look on her face.
"You obviously can feed yourself." He turned and climbed the stairs, leaving her.
Hey, nice ass.
Lope stopped in his tracks, his back to her. Her chest hurt like crazy, yet she laughed aloud. He heard my thoughts. She watched as he disappeared upstairs. Once he'd slammed the trap door shut, she lay down and closed her eyes, exhausted, the dinner forgotten.


If a movie or TV production company chose to produce your books into a series of shows or movies, who would your ideal cast be?


I love Sandra Bullock and Hugh Jackson. I think they'd make a perfect couple. They'd offer the danger and desire needed to be my characters. If you find a production company to make the movies, send them on over. HAHAHA

Minx Juliette by Franny Armstrong
Toxic Tango Troop Book 2
Breathless Press
Romantic Suspense, Paranormal elements

Shot and nearly drowned, psychic Sergeant Julie Dennison is saved by a handsome rebel leader who's searching for his kidnapped son. 

When Sergeant Julie Dennison is shot and nearly drowned, she's saved by a handsome Latino stranger who can't wait to get rid of her. Wolf is a leader of a group of rebels, working together to take down crooked cops in Mexico. He searches for his kidnapped son, and the man who killed his wife. The problem is that he doesn't want to give his heart away, and Julie refuses to fall in love. Together they conquer the rainforest on a search for the Toxic Tango Troop, and Julie's twin sister, Jinn.
Teaser:
Heat burned along Julie's side, and a hard lump pressed into her hip. One of her lovers, she couldn't remember who, must have fallen asleep after they'd had sex. That was one rule she refused to allow to be broken. At ten years old, she'd been separated from her family. She'd promised herself never to become attached to anyone, to protect her heart.
It hurt to stretch, but she wanted to, like a cat. As she opened her eyes to find darkness, Julie wondered where she was. Her bed-partner breathed deeply, and evenly on her neck, sending delicious shivers up her spine. His arm rested on her waist. When she moved, pain radiated from her chest, and reality came crashing back.
Jinn?
Julie, I...
The man beside her moved, lifting his head. He pressed his palm on her forehead, and sighed.
"Still have the fever. Damn."
"Lope?"
"Yes. Stay put. I'll get you something to drink. We have to cool you down, and get you well enough to move out of here."
"You seem to be in a real hurry to get rid of me."
"You are a danger to us all."
"Who?"
His expression shuttered suddenly, as though he'd given something away. "I'll be right back."
He lit some candles and left the bed, barely able to stand erect due to the low ceiling. Julie estimated he stood well over six-feet tall when not ducking, and his shoulders took up much of the space in the small room. His narrow, muscular waist drew her gaze, as did the bulge in his denims that pressed against her while he lay beside her. She bit back a grin when he adjusted his jeans and turned to leave. From the look on his face, he didn't appear to be thrilled with her effect on him.
A few moments later he came back, carrying a tray laden with a drink of juice, a bowl of stew, and some bread. He avoided her eyes and focused on feeding her, staring at her lips as they accepted the spoon. When he frowned, she smirked.
"What's so funny?"
"If I weren't weak as a kitten, I imagine you'd have other things on your mind than feeding me."
Startled, he looked at her this time. "Eat your food," he said, growling.
Julie gave a low, throaty laugh, and took another mouthful. His hand shook a bit, and he spilled some of the gravy on her chest. This time, she said, "Would you care to lick it off?"
To her surprise, Lope leapt to his feet, banging his head on the ceiling. She snickered and then bit her lip to stop it.
"What's wrong?" she asked with an innocent look on her face.
"You obviously can feed yourself." He turned and climbed the stairs, leaving her.
Hey, nice ass.
Lope stopped in his tracks, his back to her. Her chest hurt like crazy, yet she laughed aloud. He heard my thoughts. She watched as he disappeared upstairs. Once he'd slammed the trap door shut, she lay down and closed her eyes, exhausted, the dinner forgotten.
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Author Bio

Franny Armstrong is a mother of three and a grandmother of four. Her husband supports her imagination and has the patience of a saint. She’s been writing since she was a child, creating plays to act out in front of the neighborhood children. She charged them five cents admission to join her in the family garage for the play.

Since 2002, after a serious breakdown, Franny had to express herself on the computer since she couldn’t speak, everything coming out gibberish at that time. She’s slowly healed to the point that she can function fairly well. Writing was the best medicine for her and still is.

Franny loves to write about rainforests and Caribbean islands rather than about cities. Her characters are well rounded and share her wacky sense of humor.
Franny Armstrong
Love is to DIE for...


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