Aloha
everyone!
I’m out of
my schedule, sorry. We have another Conversations with Spencer coming up at the
end of week or so, but in the meantime I thought I’d give you all a rundown on
where I’m at with things.
My publisher
Muse It Up Publishing is celebrating their 4th birthday this month
and there are lots of lovely discounts on books available. Mine included. DARK
WAR is at .99 cents.
This is a committed
polyfaithful m/m/f romance. I took my guys I have in a main series and darkened
them up slightly for an anthology call. So if you fall in love with Henry, Izzy
and Charlie, they will be back soon in a new book coming this Spring 2015 with
Muse It Up Publishing. They’re not quite as dark, although their main
personalities are still there. When you get to know Charlie, you could see this
being one of his self-destructive bents when he’s feeling unlovable and not
good about himself.
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| AMAZON .99 cents |
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| I imagine they find Charlie in a big old Plantation like this, but more ramshackle. |
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| There's a storm brewing, thunderheads roll in off the bay, lightning sparks the sky. They find Charlie and cleanse him lovingly in a deep bath while the storm rages outside. Inside, emotions are exploding too... |
He’s my most
complex of the three of them. The one everyone falls in love with. He captures
people with his vulnerabilities, all maleness and his deep emotional intelligence.
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| This is very much Charlie when he was younger. Slighter darker in skin tone, but oozes sexuality. Add in Smokey Robinson eyes and you have Charlie. :-) This is actually Adam Ant, a Romani who I just love. :-) |
Of course,
people also love Henry. My beautiful Southern gentleman, a Creole like Charlie.
His gentle deep nature and loving toward Izzy and Charlie are really the
backbone of the relationship between all of them in many ways. When Izzy and
Charlie are frothing at the mouth, Henry is quietly keeping everyone together.
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| Morgan Freeman is very much the prototype for Henry. Sex on a stick. Very beautiful man |
And Izzy… J Izzy is essentially me. She is
younger, can throw well, and dance Swing. Other than that, she’s me. Would I
really tell someone to fuck off out of my house if they were being racist,
homophobic or bigoted? Oh hell yes. LOL. I cannot abide that sort of thing for
a second.
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| Izzy :-) |
Would I make
love in the open, in a park with someone… Oh hell yes. J
And would I
love Henry and Charlie the way Izzy does… Oh hell yes.
Without question. I have
a deep belief in love. I see people’s souls, their hearts. That’s who I love.
So that book
Henry and Isolde is coming out in
Spring 2015.
It will be the
first novel of the trilogy in the Troika Love Series. Troika is a Russian word
that means three equal things and that’s what these three are in their
relationship with each other. It’s very beautiful. I write about deep soul
connections with people. It’s how I live my own life.
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| Troika horses are harnessed side by side in equal harness. |
If you want
a taste of what’s coming up, grab a copy of Dark
War to meet Charlie, Henry and Izzy in one of Charlie’s bad moments of
self-loathing. But he’s so loved that I hope you’ll see the redemption for him.
They’re very sensuous lovers with each other too. That sultry heat you get in
the South in New Orleans is in their bones. Even though, yes, Izzy is a New
Zealander. She is a Southern Kiwi and was born for the city of New Orleans. The
city fits her like a glove.
A little
closer to the end of the year, my Christmas story comes out in the Ohh Santa
series for Muse It Up Publishing. This to date is my ONLY male/female romance.
LOL. Saint Nicholas
A beautiful
heartfelt, sensual erotic romance story—New Zealander, Daisy struggles with the
death of her husband, and the days become blurs of unreality. Her one bright
spot is buying a lotto ticket twice a week from the gorgeous Greek store owner,
Nicky Constantine. He’s flirty and fun—he’s probably nice to everyone. Good
Greek Boy, she thinks in her sarkier moments.
But one day,
Nicky touches her hand and she’s transported into another time and era—she sees
a flash of a heavy sheepskin flight jacket and peaked service cap. In her
confusion, she leaves her cash card at the store.
Unbeknown to
Daisy, Nicky’s only flirty with her. He’s been watching her for months,
concerned for this lovely, fragile woman.
Finding her
card, he takes up her challenge that men aren’t romantic anymore. He arrives at
her door with an invitation to drive down to the river.
He’s packed
champagne and candles…
The magic of
the bubbling waterfall and enveloping darkness, entice them into the world of
passionate lovers.
Not just
present day lovers, but past lovers, from another lifetime…
Christmas is
right around the corner, has Saint Nicholas come early this year...
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| This is as close to Nicky Constantine as I can get... but pretty sexy Greek... Yummm |
I love this
story because I wrote it at a time when I was struggling badly with my own loss
this year. I’m still having a hard time with it, but it is getting better. I’m
not as ‘crazy’ as I was. I feel slightly saner. LOL. I’m still not up to speed,
but I’m on the mend, piece by piece. What I desperately need right now, is
somewhere I can go and live for free and just have some time to rest and recuperate. Being on my own and coping by myself has been a bit of a test in
endurance. If it wasn’t for my online friends and phone calls from people, I would
have gone stark raving mad here by myself. I like my own company, but 24/7,
month in, and month out has taken its toll. I’m ready for some human contact
again. I’m actually, like Daisy… ready for a lover, partner and friend again. I’m
inviting him into my life. It’s time.
I’m not
really keeping up very well with things in the outside world still… but
somewhere a new story birthed itself recently. Prompted as always by the
wonderful Michele ‘Mikey’ Rakes, I wrote my first gay male/male romance and
ohhh, it’s so lovely. I just love these characters and the setting so much. Hawaiian Lei.
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| This is how I imagine Beau Toyama looks, but he's older and has long hair. |
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| This is as close as I can find to Mattie at the moment. He's part New Zealand Maori/Norfolk Islander, lighter skin with freckles. This is very much Mattie's face, the eyes, smile, the build. Hair's probably slightly thicker and skin slightly darker. I haven't really been able to find a picture of Mattie, but I borrowed this from a fellow Kiwi writer E.S. Skipper who writes sexy interesting male/male romances. His book Flight of the Kiwi: London Calling is excellent. Buy link Amazon |
I wrote this
for Aaron, my husband who died. He was a New Zealand Maori from the very tough
Ngati Raukawa tribe and came from an abusive background. Some of his stuff he
never got to work out or face. I often wonder if he’d still be here today if he
could have worked through some of this stuff. I think he might have been. And
that’s sad, to pass on from this life, with a song still in you. So this book
is dedicated to him. There are parts of my own things as always that I’m trying
to work through and integrate back on board with my life.
I have to
say, I am always a little startled at the writers who say that there’s not much
of them in their characters. I’m unsure whether that’s really true and people
are oblivious to their own stuff. Or whether some of us write from ourselves
and some write from outside ourselves. I can’t decide.
Hawaiian Lei has just been put in for submission
TODAY!!! Terribly exciting when you finally hit that SEND button and quite terrifying.
You’ve gone over every single thing you’re sending about 153 times to check
there’s no spelling mistakes, glaring grammatical errors, and other hideous
balls-up that the admin editor is going to take their figurative big red pencil
and go NO across. You've double checked everyone name is spelt right.
That you haven’t called the publishing house Moody Publishing instead of Mood
Publishing. Honestly, it’s amazing how haywire the brain can go sometimes. LOL.
I don’t want to write ‘We’re thinking of going pubic hair,’ instead of public
here. And other terrifying things you’ve convinced you might have done once you’ve
hit that SEND button. And yes, it really does look that big when you hit it.
LOL.
So, my
latest ‘baby’ and in some ways a very personal heartfelt one for me has gone
out today to see if someone will give it a new home. Stay tuned. I hope to
have some good news soon. J It’s a very soul deep story and the connection
between Beau and Matt is just gorgeous.
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| Beau Toyama flies one of these gorgeous Stearman biplanes |
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| This lei pattern is somewhat particular to Tahitians |
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| Bora Bora... gorgeous |
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| Tiare flower - Tahitian gardenia. Gorgeous scent which features prominently in this story. |
Here’s the
wee blurb for it:
Hawaiian Lei
is a heartfelt soul connected, sensual love story. Two stunning Polynesian men,
each experiencing existential crisis, meet and fall in love. They find healing
against the beautiful backdrop of the mystical Hawaiian Islands.
Beau Toyama,
a “mixed plate” Hawaiian/Japanese/Tahitian man is a flight instructor on the
Big Island of Hawaii. He’s a lovely gentle shy soul from a dysfunctional island
family. He was married until one day his wife Mikey said, “I love you, babe,
but this isn’t working. I need a good man…” she’d paused. “And so do you.”
Matt
Quintal, a New Zealand painter with a Norfolk Island and Maori background has
been living the “gay scene” in LA for a year and knows it’s a crock. Feeling
the need to escape the scene, his Polynesian soul is drawn back to the Pacific.
He decides to visit his sister Rach in Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii.
When his
heart is drawn to the sound of radial engines in a biplane flying overhead one
day, his life is about to change. There’s an instant soul connection between
Beau and Matt.
They both
have things they bring to the relationship which get triggered. Family
dysfunction, abuse, redemption, healing, trust and love come to light, as Beau
and Matt work together. They both need to profoundly love and trust again.
There are deep emotional vulnerabilities between these two men who both want a
loving committed relationship. But they must allow their hearts and souls to
open.
So, I’m
hoping by Spring next year, I will have four books out there in the world. With
more on their heels.
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| Here's the beautiful Ahi Stack that you can get at Jackie Rey's in Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii (my American home state) I think I have everyone eating one of these in every book that features Hawai'i. LOL. They're so amazing!!! |
Now, that Hawaiian Lei has been sent out, I’m about
to put The Chi Circle back into edit.
I am a VERY verbose writer. I know you’re all thinking, really? Yes, I am being
a trifle sarcastic. I had to fire up the chainsaw and take 66,000 words out of Henry and Isolde to get it into the 110K
ceiling for Muse.
It is the
way I write. I just get down what the Muses (my own personal set) are saying and
later go back and take out all their ‘that’ ‘and’ ‘is’ ‘ing’ and the list goes
on words. LOL. I usually work with an edit list of about 130 words when I’m
going through a MS. I have learnt to make it tighter as I’m writing too. But I
never want to break up my flow. So I just write whatever is there and go back
later to edit. It’s much easier. I’m a pantser writer, so I need the looser
structure. It’s a very organic process.
The Chi Circle or Chi is the second book in the Troika
trilogy series. We see the full relationship between Henry, Izzy and Charlie,
another past life is revealed and we have Charlie’s high octane sexual energy adding
steam and heat to this book.
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| If you imagine the yellow gold band carved with plumeria flowers, you'll know what Charlie buys Henry and Izzy in Hawaii representing the three of them. |
I currently still have about 30K of words to still chainsaw out. J I'm hoping that perhaps my
publisher will let me have a slightly higher ceiling. With three people in a
book, you do need more word allowance. Especially when you write the sensuous love
scenes. You have to make sure that everyone is being looked after and that
requires more pages, more words.
Plus, Charlie has such BIG energy, that we
really get to see what makes him tick in this novel.
The last
final thing that’s happened lately is that I just received news a couple of
days ago that I’m going to lose my must loved editor Susan Davis. She is going
to be devoting more time to her own writing, which I am really glad for her on.
But of course, sad for me that I’m going to lose my wonderful editor who has
helped me so much. She’s become a friend too, so I won’t lose her entirely, but
she’ll be sorely missed as my editor. To find someone you click with is never
super easy for me and Susan and I just clicked. J She’s a gentle lovely soul, with
fairie like ethereal energy and it’s been a joy. THANK YOU!!! Much love and
hugs.
So… that’s
what’s been happening on the writing front for me. On the personal front, I’m
getting there piece by piece. As many of you know, my husband Aaron died in
January this year. It’s been, honestly… a pretty shitty year. But… the one
thing that has stayed with me, even in the worst moments has been my writing.
It’s sustained me when not much else was. And for that, I’m very grateful.
As well as
every single person, too many to mention who help me in ways you’re probably
not even aware of. Thank you. J
I’d also
like to thank my mentor who knows who he is. J Love you, babe. J
And last,
but by no means least. Thank you to the wonderful readers who sustain all of us
as writers. We all deeply appreciate you as writers. It is so nice to know that
someone has read your book and enjoyed it.
Thanks and
aloha Meg J
You can find me at
www.troikaromance.com
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