Coming Together Giving Back Hop

Thanks to Lisabet Sarai for coming up with this great idea! Visit Coming Together for all the books they offer.

I'm happy to take part in this Coming Together blog hop. I first became aware of this writing group nearly ten years ago, when Alessia Brio and I shared a publisher. She had pitched publishing some of Coming Together's anthologies, and I assisted in editing and promotion. Over the years I helped see the publication of story collections that benefited charities for breast cancer research, HIV/AIDS awareness, disaster relief, and Amnesty International. It's my hope over the years Alessia and Coming Together were able to give much to these worthy groups.

When Alessia decided to publish Coming Together books under its own imprint, I continued to pitch in when I could. I am not the richest person on my block, but I've always believed that even the smallest gesture is worth something in the long run. I suppose it's the way I was raised: you give when somebody needs help. If you have a talent, utilize it for good. I'm a writer, so I put my skills to this use. Since Coming Together's inception, I have contributed to seven volumes, and I have a call out for an eighth. Girl on Girl, the first book I edited for CT, benefits the National Center for Lesbian Rights. I became aware of this group after reading how they have assisted LGBT singles and couples with legal issues. One story of an elderly couple, torn apart because of circumstances, broke my heart. I wanted to do something to help.

Buy: ARe ~ AMZ ~ BN ~ KOBO ~ ITUNES ~ SMASH

My story in Girl On Girl is "A Taste of Vanilla." Here's a, ah, taste:

Hailie watched the onscreen couple embrace and kiss, and swallowed back a catch in her throat. She’d seen her share of love scenes in her favorite soaps and movies, but never two women together, and this looked damn near pornographic by comparison. When Veronique—Hailie assumed she was the blond-haired one—sat back on her heels and slid a hand up the other woman’s thigh, Hailie felt the touch in her heart, then down to her pussy. She knew they were actors, but the emotion appeared genuine, and it certainly moved Hailie.

Veronique edged closer to her lover, pushing out her shadowed pussy to connect with the 

other woman’s thigh. The camera zeroed in just as their mounds pressed together and began a slow grind. Light moaning and breathing accompanied their rhythmic lovemaking, drawing Hailie deeper into this world of grainy black and white sin.

Something pressed against her knee. Hailie looked down at Cecile’s fingers tracing a circle on Hailie’s slacks.

She turned to Cecile, whispering despite their seclusion. “You planned this, didn’t you?”

“I wouldn’t call it a plan,” Cecile said. “More of a spontaneous action,” she lifted her hand, “but if you’re uncomfortable I’ll stop—”

“I meant the movie.”

Cecile laughed. “I don’t pick the schedule here.”

“You picked the meeting place,” Hailie pointed out, “and how convenient it was to hook up in time to catch this particular show—”

Cecile silenced her with a kiss, with soft lips and a gentle thrust of her tongue across the seam of Hailie’s closed mouth. She felt warm and the aroma of vanilla strengthened with their closeness. Blood pounded in Hailie’s head, muffling the background noise of Sapphic ecstasy. Hailie couldn’t move—unsure of what to do in return. Open her mouth? Reach over and pull Cecile to her?

~

The next volume I'll edit will have a theme: racing, biking, and wheels. On Wheels will benefit refugee aid. Submissions have been coming in and I'm excited to see what these great authors have for me. It's heartening to see so many authors interested in contributing to good causes without seeking monetary compensation. All artists, authors, editors and others involved in CT do not get paid for their work. All profits go straight to the charities. If you have a short story to contribute, I know Alessia would be interested in a submission or two.

Speaking of giving, would you like to win a copy of my latest story, Touch of Class, plus an audiobook from my catalog? Comment below with the name of your favorite charity and I'll choose a winner at random. Good luck.

Visit the Full Hop

Sunday 22 November

http://lisabetsarai.blogspot.com/2015/11/sunday-snog-for-good-mm-201.html

http://leighwantsfood.blogspot.com/2015/11/coming-together-giving-back-hop.html


Monday 23 November

http://lisabetsarai.blogspot.com/2015/11/giving-it-away.html
http://delilahnight.com/2015/11/23/giving-back-blog-hop/

http://paidbytheweird.blogspot.com/2015/11/coming-together-thanksgiving-giving-back.html
http://wp.me/p1EqZm-Vt

http://alessiabrio.blogspot.com/2015/11/giving-time-money-and-thanks.html

Tuesday 24 November

http://lisabetsarai.blogspot.com/2015/11/funny-brutal-tender.html


Wednesday 25 November

http://lisabetsarai.blogspot.com/2015/11/erotic-visions-for-brave.html


Thursday 26 November

http://lisabetsarai.blogspot.com/2015/11/bloody-good-erotica.html

http://annabetherotica.com/


Friday 27 November

http://lisabetsarai.blogspot.com/2015/11/release-day-for-another-coming-together.html


Saturday 28 November

http://lisabetsarai.blogspot.com/2015/11/where-no-man-has-gone-before.html

Late Monday Muddle: Damn, It's Cold

I just got word that TOUCH OF CLASS is now on pre-order at Amazon. ARe Books has planned a blog tour for the book and an FB launch party and a Thunderclap for the whole series. I'll share links on my Twitter as I get them. I'm excited about this series, and the story is sort of my last big hurrah for 2015. I'll have stories in Volumes 11 and 12 of Sexy To Go, but one is an updated story and the other is a short that was meant for an anthology submission but I missed the deadline. Beyond this, Sexy To Go is moving to quarterly releases but I haven't decided what to do about that yet.

For Volume 11 of Sexy To Go, I'm submitting a revised version of my story, DULCE. DULCE is more erotic than romantic; in fact, as I look back at the shorts I wrote in my early years they qualify more as straight erotica. Some have happy endings, some are HFN. I find these stories, as I go through them again, are better suited to collections. However, I do wish to write longer and I'll have more news on that another time.

Speaking of shorts, I can announce now that I've signed a second contract with Torquere Press. SNOW ANGELS is a MMM erotic story that will appear in their SNOWED IN anthology in January. It's a fun little romp for readers who enjoy all-male menage. I'd like to try for a few more of their themed anthologies in the new year. We'll see if the schedule allows it.

Right now I'm working on a submission for something to release soon. News on that if it goes through.

S*A*L*E on M/M Romance, Plus a Bit of Kink

Now through the end of November, you can get ONE SWEET RIDE for 99 cents in eBook.

Buy: ARe ~ AMZ ~ BN ~ KOBO ~ ITUNES ~ SMASH

ONE SWEET RIDE was previously published as TASTE THIS, and the follow-up BITTERSWEET, is also available.

Buy: ARe ~ AMZ ~ BN ~ KOBO ~ ITUNES ~ SMASH

Here's the official blurb for Book #1:

Warning – This novella is probably one of the smuttiest Leigh has written. This story features explicit scenes of M/M sex, FFM sex, MMF sex, MMMM sex, and some other combinations. There’s anal, people licking private places, and more. At the core of this story, though, is a love story between two men.

Kelly Landry loves to bake. He’s living the dream, running the busiest bakery cafe in town. At Taste This, people come from all over for his chocolate chip cookies…even from outer space.

Tobin, captain of the Jiu’Kr, can’t satisfy his sweet tooth. He loves Kelly’s cookies, but would prefer to have the hunky chef in his bed. One he gets him aboard the Vectran ship, he shows Kelly how to make every day sweet, and hot. Yet, can Tobin and Kelly live on chocolate and sex alone?

~

I've had the honor of previewing the other stories coming from ARe Books this December in the Bound To Be Naughty collection. All I can say is, if you enjoy kinky romance your TBR is going to be happy happy happy. I'm thrilled, too, that a few authors I've worked with in the past are part of this multi-author series. Bridget Midway just did an author event this past weekend to show off her latest Phaze book, but you'll have to wait until December to pick up LEARNING THE HARD WAY. 

Erzabet Bishop appeared in the first Coming Together anthology I edited (GIRL ON GIRL) but her Bound To Be Naughty story is multiple partners, it's called CRAVE. If you haven't seen all the covers yet, you can view them on ARe's Pinterest Board. There will be a Facebook launch party for these stories, you can check my Twitter for the time and dates.

~

I have two submissions out, one Leigh and one real name. The Leigh story is for a January anthology, so I'm expecting to hear about that one soon. I recently hit 2k on another anthology submission, due at the end of the week, but as I read the story I find it isn't quite working for me. So I'm at a crossroads here: do I continue and see how it finishes, or shelve the project for a later day and focus on another important WIP? The thing with this deadline MS, though, is the scope of the project is specific. Read: it's a theme that I might not be able to revamp elsewhere. So this means what I've written so far may never see light.

Eh, it happens. How many authors have cut chunks of writing, either without a second thought or with great pain? One thing is for certain, I'm not deducting the words written from my NaNo count!

I've also received word that iBooks shuts down for an extended vacation in the winter. If I want DARING HIM on iTunes before Christmas I need to boogie. Come back next week to see how well, or unwell, I've done.

Monday Muddle: Rainy Days and Mondays...

SEXY TO GO, VOL. 10 is now available at all the major eBook retailers. For this set, I have revamped my MM short, Surveillance.

Buy: ARe ~ AMZ ~ BN ~ KOBO ~ ITUNES

For the final two installments of 2015, I will include two other previously released shorts. However, if I don't receive word back on a submission to another house, I will swap. I do hope that short gets contracted, though. It's a hot MMM with a bear of man and two younger studs. Been a while since I've written an all-male threebie.

In 2016, Sexy To Go will move to a quarterly release calendar. This means we'll be able to write longer stories, and I think we're doing some themed boxes as well. I'm all for that - the mixed boxes are fun, but I do know readers would enjoy a collection of all alphas, all billionaires, all cowboys, etc. I look forward to seeing what we do here.

COMING TOGETHER: STRANGE SHIFTERS has an original MM short of mine, called "Gator Tail." I had so much fun writing this story, that if time permits I'll expand upon the universe. "Gator Tail" alludes to another MM shifter I wrote, "Fox's Holiday," which is in COMING TOGETHER FOR THE HOLIDAYS. I know wolves, bears, and cats are popular but there's something about the unique shifter that brings out the creativity in me,

Buy: AMZ ~ BN ~ KOBO ~ ITUNES ~ SMASH

For now, I am waiting on the release of TOUCH OF CLASS, my first MF pairing in a while. As I mentioned before, it's part of the All Romance collection BOUND TO BE NAUGHTY, kink and BDSM novellas. Mine is connected to the two 1Night Stand stories I've done for Decadent, but those are both MM. I hadn't intended to write an MF pairing, but when the opportunity came up and I started the story I realized it worked better this way, and there was an opportunity to bring more characters into play. If you missed the cover reveal on AReCafe here it is again:

I do love a nice cover, and Erin Dameron-Hill crafted this one. :-)

I am signed up for NaNoWriMo, under my real name. The project is happening under that name - it's outlined and I'm off to a good start. I have to write my words at night because of the day job, but given my enthusiasm for the project I find the words are coming easier. I may just make it this time. In the meantime, my other name is waiting to hear on a submission and I'm hoping for good news soon. Cross fingers.