My train boys are very close to being finished, at long last. I’m relieved about this for more than the obvious reasons – I’ve discovered the whole myth about trainspotters being one of the most reviled groups in society isn’t just a myth. People really don’t want to discuss the different braking systems of steam locomotives over lunch, it seems. I find this perplexing. I’m obviously going to have to find a more socially acceptable research subject for my next book.

Meanwhile, Riding the Whirlwind has received a terrific 5 star review from Carly at The Romance Reviews – “A stunningly emotional and highly entertaining read” – and Shifting Sands has received a wonderful 10 Pots of Gold review from Tracy Gee at Rainbow Gold Reviews -“ The storyline is gripping, the plot is interesting and brilliantly written.”  

Thank you to both for taking the time to read and review. As always, I’m absolutely thrilled to learn that people are enjoying these books. 🙂

 

Riding the Whirlwind, book 5 in Strength of the Pack series, is now available on Amazon.

And later today, Inner Goddess’s Summer Lovin’ m/m romance party moves to Facebook. Lots of authors, lots of fun, and, knowing my fellow m/m readers and writers, lots of pictures of half-naked men. Do come and join in, and don’t forget to enter the giveaway. I’ll be hosting from 1-2pm EST so there’s a perfect opportunity to ask any questions you might have for me!

 

 

I’m over at Romancing the Book today, as part of their sixth anniversary celebrations! Do drop by and join in the conversation if you have a moment.

As well as finding out just why I can’t have a cat (or, more accurately, why a cat won’t take me on as staff), there’s a copy of one of my Strength of the Pack books on offer.

Where on earth has this year gone?  It probably hasn’t helped that I’ve had my head buried in my work in progress for the last few weeks, as my planned 30k word novella grew into a 65k word novel. All I need is one more clear day of writing and the first draft should be complete. Words that may come back to haunt me, of course.

Anyway, that’s why I’ve been so quiet of late. I have various things planned for August to make up for such a quiet month. I’m participating in the Facebook event which Inner Goddess are running from 14-17 August for lovers of m/m romance. There will be giveaways, and more, from 25 authors. Do come and join in the fun!

Romancing the Book are celebrating their sixth anniversary by running a series of themed weeks, all of which have been lots of fun so far. GLBT week is 11-15 August, and I’m guesting there August 14th.

Then on August 28th, I’m with the wonderful Blogger Girls, with a guest post and giveaway.

And finally, the lovely Chris T. Kat will be a guest here on August 30th to talk about her latest book.

I’ll post links here as each post goes live.

On a slightly different note, Serena Yates has given Riding the Whirlwind a lovely review at Rainbow Book Reviews:

“…exciting, suspenseful, and deeply emotional as the main characters battle it out…”

When I sat down to write this series, I had no intention of writing the full story of Christian and Dave’s trip to New Mexico. It was going to be covered by a couple of lines in the final book. But somehow these two wormed their way into my head, and Riding the Whirlwind is the result.

Five years undone in just five days.

Dave Mitchell and Christian Taylor are on a mission from their alpha—to discover what happened to a pack of Argent shifters thirteen years ago. Away from their pack and out of their usual routine, they find underlying tensions in their relationship coming to the surface.

When their investigation leads them to the resident pack, Christian seeks respite from his demons by throwing himself eagerly into the cage-fighting ring the pack runs. He knows Dave hates him to fight, but he also knows Dave will understand. Dave always understands.

But when Dave meets a kindred spirit among the pack members, all Christian’s certainties come crashing down around him. It becomes clear that their relationship might not survive this. And when things between them reach crisis point and the local pack gets involved, it may prove to be the death of more than just their relationship.

It’s now available from Siren BookStrand, with a 10% new-release discount until July 22nd.  It will also be available from the usual third-party retailers (Amazon, B&N, etc) in a few weeks time.

Riding the Whirlwind, Book V in the Strength of the Pack series, is now available for pre-order here. Released on July 15th, it follows the adventures of Christian and Dave in New Mexico during the events of Shifting Sands.

 

Five years undone in just five days.

Dave Mitchell and Christian Taylor are on a mission from their alpha—to discover what happened to a pack of Argent shifters thirteen years ago. Away from their pack and out of their usual routine, they find underlying tensions in their relationship coming to the surface.

When their investigation leads them to the resident pack, Christian seeks respite from his demons by throwing himself eagerly into the cage-fighting ring the pack runs. He knows Dave hates him to fight, but he also knows Dave will understand. Dave always understands.

But when Dave meets a kindred spirit among the pack members, all Christian’s certainties come crashing down around him. It becomes clear that their relationship might not survive this. And when things between them reach crisis point and the local pack gets involved, it may prove to be the death of more than just their relationship.

It’s been a while since my last post but I have a good excuse – I’ve been deep in writing a new book, and also doing edits for Riding the Whirlwind, which comes out next month.

I know a lot of you are waiting for Karl’s story in the Strength of the Pack series, and I’m thrilled and grateful that you’re enjoying the series so much! I will write it – I shudder to think what he’d do to me if I didn’t – but after finishing Riding the Whirlwind, I needed a temporary break from the shifters of Elk Ridge.

I’m very placid by nature, despite my red hair, and I hate confrontation. Christian, on the other hand, is a tightly wound ball of anger with a hair-trigger temper and offence is his defence. I found writing him to be quite exhausting. Added to which, the atmosphere is a little different from the other books in the series, and when I reached the end of it, I felt the need for a complete change before I start writing Karl’s story. That way I can ensure I do him, and the series, justice with the last book.

So in the last few weeks, I have learned more than I ever wanted to know about steam locomotives and their maintenance requirements in my research for a book that has a very different tone from the Elk Ridge pack. It features an engine driver, a trainspotter, and a spider called Mabel. Have I mentioned I’m arachnophobic?  These characters are determined to kill me.

Despite the amount of time I spend checking vocabulary, the differences between American and British English still trip me up. I was complaining to an American friend yesterday about the not-at-all-sexy overalls which one of the characters in my next book has to wear for his job and wondering how I could strip him out of them so he’s just in T-shirt and jeans.

After five minutes of confused, circular conversation, it became apparent that overalls in American English are a different thing from in British English. If I’ve understood correctly, they’re what we would call dungarees, and so it makes no sense at all for anyone to be wearing jeans under, well, other jeans.

Overalls and overalls:

 

 

Whatever they’re called, the point is that Our Hero is wearing far too many clothes right now and I need to get back to sorting that out, rather than obsessing over vocabulary.

On a slightly different note, I’m thrilled that Serena Yates at Rainbow Book Reviews has just given A Liar’s Moon a lovely review, following on the heels of the equally nice one she gave An Impossible Mate last week.

“If you like shifter stories with men who fall for each other before they really know who the other person is, then have to deal with the consequences, if you like reading about broken trust and the hard road back to a true relationship, and if you’re looking for a light read that is as emotional as it is hot, then you will probably like this novella.”

The book that I was beginning to despair of ever finishing is finally with the publisher and the contract signed for publication in July 2014. Remind me to never again listen to Christian when he tells me he wants his own book and then will only co-operate with it on his terms.

Titled Riding the Whirlwind, it follows the adventures of Christian and Dave in New Mexico during the events of Shifting Sands.  And may I just say to the residents of New Mexico, Christian’s views on the state are not mine. I feel I should apologise for them.

THE STRENGTH OF THE PACK SERIES

BECAUSE FAMILY WEARS FUR

 

 

Today’s stop for the Shifting Sands tour is at Words of Wisdom… from The Scarf Princess, where the book has received a lovely review. There’s also a blog post in which I talk about my love of research and the fascinating and completely useless rabbit holes it leads me down, and all the while the draw for the Amazon certificate is still going strong!

“It’s not only a mystery on a political level but a mystery of the heart for pack beta Bryce and the kindhearted political aide Tom…Theirs is a battle to put past hurts behind them, and stay one step ahead of those sent to kill them for the secrets they know.“