All You Need... Is Love

Today is an anniversary many people don't wish to acknowledge. It's surreal in a way to think it's been nearly thirty years, yet the music sounds fresh and relevant, as though we're hearing it for the first time. A few years ago, while visiting friends in Connecticut we went into New York City for sightseeing. When asked what I wanted to see, foremost in my mind was Strawberry Fields.

To get there, we had to pass the Dakota. We all know what happened there. Even today, people walk past and shiver. I have pictures taken from across the street, but for some reason I couldn't bring myself to cross and move closer. That experience partly inspired this story I've put up for sale.

I wanted to do something to commemorate the life, rather than his senseless end. With this story, while short, I hope to convey some kind of feeling about what the music means to one person. I've decided, too, to donate what I make off this story and give to WHY, an organization devoted to eliminating hunger. John supported the charity, and Yoko continues to do so - perhaps this is one little step to take. When I'm able to, I'll try to match sales with my own contributions.

All You Need... - Buy Now!
DLP Books, $.89, Gay, Erotica

Follow-up to Leigh’s story, Surveillance. On a pilgrimage to New York City to pay their respects to a fallen hero, Dean and Troy imagine a life of peace and celebrate a night of love.

Proceeds from the sale of this story are donated to WHY, promoting solutions to eliminate hunger and poverty.

All I Want for Christmas...and Every Day After

As my priorities shift to acquisitions and marketing for Phaze Books, I am given the opportunity to glean from readers their Christmas and beyond wish lists. Often I receive mail from readers what to expect with regards to a specific author or genre, and from this and our sales I craft calls for submission.

More than once I've been asked what Phaze wants. Essentially, we accept all subgenres of erotic romance, and we wish to publish a variety of stories. If I had to craft my own wish list, I would ask for this:

Ideal word length: 25K - 60K. This is a good length range for eBooks. If you write between 40K and 60K you are print eligible, but if you write a series of 20-25K novellas we can look into a bound anthology, too. Pricewise, books at this length go for $3 to $6, and as I tell authors, the longer you write, the better the payout.

M/M Romance and Erotica - The G in GLBT remains a strong genre for us, and it's my wish to acquire more stories that emphasize the romance in this subgenre. I've had readers inform me that they have seen our titles in certain gay bookstores around the US, and I'm happy for the exposure. As most of the authors I edit write M/M, I am always open to reading more.

Interracial Romance and Erotica - I/R, particularly with an African-American heroine, is a popular genre for us. I am definitely interested in growing this type of work. Category length and novel length (45K and up) is especially in demand among readers, and while the majority of our I/R is contemporary I'd like to mix it up with some paranormal and fantasy, shifters, and BDSM.

F/F Romance and Erotica in Novel Length - Every time we set up for a Pride event, readers ask for lesbian romance. We've enjoyed critical success with our Sapphistocated anthology, and are planning to bring Lisabet Sarai's Exposure to print for our next events, but I would like to publish one or two more exclusively F/F novels in the coming year, HEA ending.

Steampunk - The submissions for my anth call are slowly steady, probably because I haven't set a hard deadline. I may need to do that to light a fire, but in the meantime I'd love to have more steampunk, het or GLBT, for the coming year.

Please note, we do accept works of 10K, and works of 5-9K if submitting for our Binaries line. Our submissions page details everything we will and will not accept.

Right now, Phaze Books is scheduled through next spring, so if you have something for next summer, we are always open. Original works for new authors to our house, please, and feel free to contact klively (at) phaze (dot) com with questions.

Me Want More Food- One Blog is Not Enough

It occurred to me that I have close to 80 posts on chocolate alone, the majority of which are reviews of bars and delights I've sampled over the past year. Given the wealth of information, I decided the subject is worth it's own space, so I have copied those posts over to a new blog, Odd Chocolates. The name should be self-explanatory - I've tried quite a few odd combinations of chocolate and savory flavors over the years - bacon, thyme, chili peppers - and as I recently went into an order with a friend for some Japanese Kit-Kats (they'll put chocolate on anything, apparently), it's only going to get odder.

Not only that, I'm going to experiment with video blogging, since the experience of chocolate should best be displayed in multimedia. We don't have WonkaVision yet, but this is the best I can do. Head over to Odd Chocolates now and watch my reaction to biting into the last of the Polly Waffle bars.

Aural Sex

Some time ago I saw a call for submissions for an upcoming publisher of audio romance, called AudioLark. I recognized one of the staff names as somebody who has worked with Phaze Books on a freelance basis, and as that person did very well by us I figured why not give it a shot. I've mentioned here before how we have attempted to put some of our titles to audio - we even had a cover template, and I went so far as to record two of my stories on my own, Double Dare and Jack of Hearts. It's still my goal to see that project through. If I could polish the audio files I have done, maybe that will still happen soon.

Anyway, I was offered a contract to have Truth or Dare recorded, and after some internal deliberations I accepted. I'm curious to see where AudioLark goes with these projects. They will launch in March with a number of titles - stories I've seen on Samhain and other eBook publishers. At Phaze Books, the authors retain audio rights, so if any other Phaze titles will appear here I cannot say yet. As for the rest of the Dareville novels, I will wait to see how the progress with Truth pans out. If the quality is good and the book is well received, I'd be happy to negotiate the contracts for the other three main novels. For now, we'll see.

It's exciting to think a story of mine will become an audio book - it's cool to think people will download the book into iPods and iPhones and listen on the plane or elsewhere. You might know I've been trying to get Truth translated into German, and that's been a pain in the ass. One day it'll happen, I have so many dreams.

Free Short Available! Standing Guard by Leigh Ellwood

A number of years ago, I'd published through the now defunct Venus Press a quickie called Standing Guard. I was inspired to write it following a conversation with a military wife whose husband had been deployed at the time. Where I am now, that's a common sight to experience, and I imagine during the holidays it's especially lonely. I don't know that a little short tale will make anybody feel better, but I hope you all enjoy it. I've decided, since it is rather short, to add it to my growing free read library.

You can find it for free at Smashwords or ARe. Right now, it's work work work on Enter Sandman for Phaze Books, Dead Barchetta, and the first Nenah West story with Nona Wesley. I'll have more on that collaboration soon.

Listen to Leigh

My early Christmas treat to you: an excerpt of my latest M/M release, By the Chimney with Dare, now available from DLP Books. This is a PG-13 excerpt, but the story certainly is not. Hope you enjoy it.

New Title, Upcoming Title

First Things First

Now available, By the Chimney With Dare! This story is part of my Dareville series of erotic romances and erotic shorts.

By the Chimney with Dare – Leigh Ellwood
Gay Erotica – $.99 eBook

eBook available at the following merchants:

DLPBooks.com
ARe
Scribd
Smashwords
1Romance

Alone for the holidays, Jimmy Carvana accepts a volunteer gig with his uncle’s limousine service, shuttling party guests to and from the local vineyard. When he’s asked to pick up Santa, he’s surprised to find a handsome, dark-haired man in a red suit as opposed to the stereotypical jolly old elf.

As Santa, Trey Jeffries delights young and old, but alone in a cozy cabin on the outskirts of Dareville, he’s willing to offer Jimmy the gift that keeps on giving!

Secondly...

I swiped these from Tilly Greene's blog. I hadn't before seen a complete list of the ARe 28 Days of Heart Campaign titles, and these came up on my Google Alerts. What a great lineup of writers!

These books are coming out one a day during the month of February 2010, with the proceeds going to benefit the American Heart Association. I don't know if this is the order of release or not, I wasn't given a specific date on mine. Will report when I know.

Exchange of Hearts by G.A. Hauser (Gay, Contemporary)
Tor: Viking Master by Ellen Margret (Historical Ancient)
Timeless Voyage by Cornelia Amiri (Historical Ancient)
Moonlit Watcher by Crystal-Rain Love (Werewolf, Interracial, Contemporary)
A Slightly Different Perfect by Sylvia Shults (Fantasy, Romantic Comedy)
Zero-G by Michele Hart (Sci-Fi)
And She Scores by Tilly Greene (Contemporary)
Wild Child by Shelley Munro (Contemporary)
A Fair Trade by BA Tortuga (Gay, Shape-shifter, Western)
Hell's Angel by Jackie Kessler (Paranormal)
Private Lies by Cat Johnson (Contemporary)
Touch of Fire by Samantha Sommersby (Contemporary)
Bride of Fire by Charlene Teglia (Fantasy)
Protecting Miss Samuels by Summer Devon (Historical)
A Shadow's Kiss by Barbara J. Hancock (Paranormal, Vampire, Contemporary)
Hold Onto the Night by Kari Thomas (Contemporary)
Liberating Lucius by Bonnie Dee (Historical Ancient)
Mad About Meg by Mari Carr (Contemporary)
GPS by Leigh Ellwood (Gay, Contemporary)
Country Loving by Robin Leigh Miller (Thriller, Contemporary)
Unshuttered by Emery Sanborne & Philippa Grey-Gerou (Contemporary)
Vanilla with Extra Nuts by Victoria Blisse (Multipartner, Rubenesque, Contemporary)
Stay with Me by Alisha Steele (Fantasy)
Love is Blindness by Sean Michael (Gay, Vampire, Contemporary)
Angels & Genies by K.F. Zuzulo (Paranormal, Fantasy)
Love Unleashed by Marcia James (Contemporary)
Sea of Sin by India Harper (Gay, Contemporary)
Sweets by E. Cameron Stacy (Contemporary)