Blog – Page 38 – Kim Fielding Writes

New Release Questionnaire and Contest

With four new releases to choose from this month, perhaps you’re having problems deciding which of my stories to read first. This questionnaire will help you decide. Or maybe not. You should probably read them all anyway. But we have a contest too!

1. Form of transportation
- a. magic carpet
- b. feet
- c. 1939 Chevy pickup
- d. RV
2. Mythical creature
- a. phoenix
- b. demon
- c. winged demon (yes, demon again; it’s a theme this month)
- d. alien
3. Location
- a. desert
- b. forest
- c. American Midwest
- d. American West Coast
4. Food & beverage
- a. groundnut stew and tea
- b. dragonfish and water
- c. pie and coffee
- d. s’mores and whiskey
5. Literary style/author
- a. Arabian nights
- b. Stephen King
- c. Ray Bradbury or Dashiell Hammett
- d. George RR Martin
6. Classic movie actor
- a. Yul Brenner
- b. Boris Karloff
- c. Robert Mitchum
- d. Tab Hunter
7. Color
- a. orange
- b. green
- c. gray
- d. sparkles
8. Bad thoughts
- a. homophobia
- b. vengeance
- c. corruption
- d. despair
9. Hobby
- a. alchemy
- b. fishing
- c. swimming
- d. writing
10. Entertainment venue
- a. park
- b. dance club
- c. carnival
- d. bookstore
11. Occupation
- a. diplomat
- b. healer
- c. detective
- d. editor
12. Accessory
- a. hair ribbon
- b. sword
- c. fedora
- d. raincoat
13. Cause of current predicament
- a. state funeral
- b. patricide
- c. boss
- d. drunken letter-writing
14. Investment
- a. feathers
- b. weapons
- c. silver
- d. public utilities
15. Myers Briggs personality type
- a. ISTJ
- b. ESTP
- c. ISTP
- d. INTJ
16. Home’s best feature
- a. lab space
- b. sturdy door
- c. near the beach
- d. walking distance to bar
17. Favorite urban area
- a. Kokoto
- b. city by the Reach
- c. Kansas City or LA
- d. Seattle, Portland, or San Francisco
18. Sport
- a. wrestling
- b. fencing
- c. swimming
- d. running
19. Body part
- a. tongue
- b. hands
- c. horns
- d. hair
20. kink
- a. sex on the floor
- b. blindfolds
- c. BDSM
- d. electrosex

If your answers were mostly A: read Phoenix first

If your answers were mostly B: read The Downs first

If your answers were mostly C: read Corruption first

If your answers were mostly D: read Astounding! first

And when you’re done with your first choice? Read the others!

CONTEST!

I’ll randomly choose one commenter to win.
Contest ends June 21 at noon PDT
Winner gets $10 Dreamspinner gift certificate and an e-copy of Grown-up
In your comment, tell us which June release the questionnaire picked for you–and anything else you want to add. Make sure to include your email address so I can contact you if you win!

Please welcome Grace R. Duncan!

I’m so excited to announce my new novel Turning His LIfe Around is up for pre-order with an amazing cover from Paul Richmond!

TurningHisLifeAroundFS

Title: Turning His Life Around
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release date: July 6, 2015
240 pages, 87k words
Cover Art: Paul Richmond

Can Kane recognize what’s right in front of him before he loses everything?

When Kane Harris’s world turns upside down, his lifelong best friend is the only one to catch him.

Years ago, Ian Kelly accepted Kane would never return his love, since he knows Kane believes he’s incapable of it. Ian is willing to settle for what he can get—a best friend, sometimes casual lover, and occasional submissive. He’s learned he can’t live without Kane, but he can’t let Kane know. Because when, not if, Kane confirms that Ian’s love will never be returned, Ian won’t be able to take it. But when Kane loses his job and asks Ian to step up their play to help him deal, Ian’s ability to hide his feelings falters. Then Kane starts his own computer security firm and asks Ian to join him, and Ian struggles further.

It’s not until they visit the exclusive BDSM club the Iron Door that things come to a head. Kane screws up big time, and he’s afraid he can’t fix it. He’s sure he’ll lose his best friend, his Dom, his everything… forever.

Pre-0rder it now from Dreamspinner Press!

Excerpt:

IAN COAXED his ancient Toyota into the parking spot next to Kane’s Accord and shut off the engine. He was exhausted. He’d gotten into a fight with the IT director again, was given another project to work on with the database developer whom he hated with a passion, and had been forced to sit through no less than three completely useless meetings in the afternoon. All he wanted to do was eat something and go kill something. Not necessarily in that order.

He dragged himself out of the car and locked it, tossing his bag over his shoulder. He trudged up the steps, giving a halfhearted wave at their elderly neighbor, a sweet old lady not entirely with it anymore. She was out on her balcony in little more than a nightgown, watering nearly dead plants. She smiled a wide, toothless smile and he gave a weak smile back.

He finally made it to the apartment door on the third floor. He slammed the door deliberately so Kane would know he was home, then kicked off his shoes, hung his keys up, and shed his jacket. He put it in the closet before heading down the hall.

Their living room wasn’t all that big, but they didn’t care. Half of it was taken up with their computer desks, stuffed next to each other and covering one entire wall. Opposite them was the large flat screen TV and entertainment center, complete with all three major gaming consoles, a home theater system, and large collection of movies and games. In front of the TV, between it and their desks, was the one piece of furniture they’d spent any real money on: their couch. They’d had more than a few friends crash with them, and they’d finally broken down and bought a decent one for them to sleep on. It had certainly come in handy a few times when they’d decided to fuck there in the living room too.

Ian shook his head at the thought and turned his attention to Kane. He had his headphones on and there was a battle going on the screen, one hand was on the keyboard, and the other was on the mouse.

“No, goddammit! He was… fuck. What do you mean you’re out of power? That’s not what I see! Just… send in the pet. Fine. Look, we’re in the bottom of fucking Moria. You can’t fuck around like that!”

Ian leaned against the wall, crossing his arms, and watched the battle. There were way too many enemies for Kane’s group—he could see that from there.

“Goddammit!” Kane shouted, ripping his headphones off and throwing them onto the desk.

“Pick-up group?” Ian asked.

Kane spun around, and Ian glanced over Kane’s shoulder to see his character’s corpse lying on the ground. “Yeah. Why do I get into them again?”

Ian shook his head. “I don’t know. They’re not usually that bad in Middle-earth, though, are they?”

“No, which is why I’m so pissed.” He sighed. “Must be the daytime players.”

“Want to order in tonight?” Ian asked, crossing the room to stand next to his friend.

“Chinese?” Kane looked up hopefully, and Ian laughed.

“Sure. If we can order from the place that does the sushi too.”

“Done!” Kane grinned and snatched at the menu he kept pinned to the small bulletin board over his desk. “How was your day?” he asked as he looked over the menu.

Ian sighed. “Long. Meetings all damned afternoon. I hate meetings. I hate people. And, um, don’t you have to deal with your group?” He pointed at the screen.

Kane shook his head. “No, I dropped it. I should port back, though.” He turned back to the computer and clicked a few things. His corpse revived, the pretty green swirls surrounded him, and the loading screen came up, complete with a twenty-four-inch version of a spider.

Ian shuddered and looked away. Instead, he turned to inspect his friend. He could tell something was bubbling under the olive skin and nearly black eyes. He knew it was very likely the old job, the new job hunt, and the frustration Kane was likely feeling over it. Kane always thought too much, spent way too much mental energy worrying about things.

“Did you work out today?” he asked, giving in and playing with a bit of Kane’s shaggy ebony hair.

“Yeah,” Kane said, and that one syllable told Ian enough: that while the workout might have done some, it most certainly wasn’t enough. He knew Kane would have gotten started on what he had to do, would have done what he felt he needed to, and hated every second of it. He was likely worried about money and not looking forward to working for another bullshit company with bullshit politics and bullshit people.

He knew his friend well.

They’d been friends since they were six. He’d met Kane one hot summer day behind his house, and from that point on, Kane had just always been there.

Kane spun back around in his chair and surprised Ian. He wrapped his arms around Ian’s waist and pulled until they were tight against each other, burying his face in Ian’s stomach.

“Kane?”

It’s not that they never hugged or touched. They did—quite often, in fact, for two people who weren’t committed lovers, but this was… different.

“Sorry. Just….” He didn’t continue, instead shook his head a little.

At a loss for what to do, Ian wrapped his arms around Kane’s shoulders.

They stayed that way for a few moments, and then Kane pulled back. “I’m sorry. Just overthinking things today.” He peered up at Ian. “And you’re tired. Let’s get dinner ordered. Want to play for a while?”

Ian considered him for a moment. As much as he wanted to log in and play too, he knew Kane’s current state of mind was not conducive to making any kind of progress. They’d end up dying more than once; then they’d get frustrated over it. Death in the game was relatively painless, but it was still annoying and inconvenient. Which would only serve to make things worse.

Maybe what he needed was another type altogether. “Maybe. Maybe what you need is a different kind of play tonight.” Ian watched Kane’s eyes. His pupils expanded just a bit and his breathing quickened. “Would you like that, pet?”

“Yes, Sir.” Kane’s voice was clear and deferent, his eyes dropping away.

Ian’s own breath quickened and he worked to get hold of himself. “Very well. Strip, get the cushion, and get on your knees. Wait here for me.”

“Yes, Sir,” Kane answered, voice already rough with anticipation, and as Ian stepped away, he hurried to obey.

* * *

About Grace:

noh8

Grace Duncan grew up with a wild imagination. She told stories from an early age – many of which got her into trouble. Eventually, she learned to channel that imagination into less troublesome areas, including fanfiction, which is what has led her to writing male/male erotica.

A gypsy in her own right, Grace has lived all over the United States. She has currently set up camp in East Texas with her husband and children – both the human and furry kind.

As one of those rare creatures who loves research, Grace can get lost for hours on the internet, reading up on any number of strange and different topics. She can also be found writing fanfiction, reading fantasy, crime, suspense, romance and other erotica or even dabbling in art.

Website ◊ Facebook ◊ Twitter ◊ Goodreads ◊ Email ◊ Amazon Author Page

Indigent: An anthology to support LGBT charities

Book Description

Five authors have joined together to produce stories evoking both loss and hope. Reaching deep within their fiery imaginations, these stories take flight and showcase dreams for a better today and future for LGBT everywhere. Embodying a diverse set of talents and stories, this volume sets out to grab the hearts of those who read the m/m genre and to offer hope to LGBT across the globe.

Frederick Eugene Feeley Jr’s “Indigent”, after which the anthology takes it’s name, brings the reader to witness an apocalyptic war between the good and evil that rages in one man’s mind. Soon he will know that his prob- lems are insignificant compared to those of others.

Mari Evan’s “Stumbling into Forever”, involves a handsome young vampire who will learn that just a sip of blood is the difference between love and freezing to death.

Leona Windwalker’s “If Only the World”, takes rejection to another level. A heartbreaking story that is turned on it’s head by the kindness of strangers.

Shaye Evans’ “Rescued”, is a contemporary social statement about the af- termath of a young man’s life after his drink has been spiked at a bar.

LeAnne Phoenix’s “Higher Love”, takes us on an almost spiritual journey through the minds of two people who have never met, but have spo- ken on a telepathic level. When they do come together, that bond is already cemented but there is a price to pay.

Charities Supported

Our nature is to live and let live.

Often disregarding the plight of our homeless, our sick, our tired and our handicapped LGBT fellow beings. It gives us great pleasure in presenting this edition to assist our community members wherever they may be. Many of our community members have nowhere to sleep, nothing to eat, and have no work. The proceeds collected from this book will go to rewarding several charities across the globe. These charities are passionate about what they do. Some take in the homeless and others provide a home for the aged and the handicapped. The charities whom we will be assisting are:

GALA, South Africa

Lost-n-Found-Youth, Atlanta, USA Youth Off The Streets, Australia The Albert Kennedy Trust, UK

GALA is a centre for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGB- TI) culture and education in Africa. Their mission is, first and foremost, to act as a catalyst for the production, preservation and dissemination of knowledge on the history, culture and contemporary experiences of LGBTI people.

www.gala.co.za

Lost-n-Found is Atlanta’s only non-profit organization dedicated to taking homeless lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth off the street and into more permanent housing, Lost-n-Found Youth is dedicated to the advocacy and service of youth from 13 to 25 years old.

http://lnfy.org

Youth Off The Streets is a non-denominational community organisation working for young people aged 12-25 who are facing challenges of homeless- ness, drug and alcohol dependency, exclusion from school, neglect and abuse. We support these young people as they work to turn their lives around and overcome immense personal traumas such as neglect and physical, psycholog- ical and emotional abuse.

http://www.youthoffthestreets.com.au

The Albert Kennedy Trust supports lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans homeless young people in crisis. Every day they deal with the the effects home- lessness can have on young people’s lives.

http://www.akt.org.uk

These charities require funding to assist desperate, needy members of our community and this book is a mere drop in the ocean of how we can reach out socially to them.

Indigent has been produced to entertain and delight and all the stories leave the reader with a “feel good” state of mind.

Title: Indigent

ISBN: ISBN (13) 978-1512317404

Genre: Fiction – LGBT Anthology

Audience: Young Adult and Teen (age group 16+)

Edition: Quality Paperback, Pages – 464, $5.99 Ebook, $3.99

Authors: Frederick Eugene Feeley Jr, Mari Evans, Leona Windwalker, Shaye Evans, M. LeAnne Phoenix

Publisher: CoolDudes Publishing (PTY) LTD

Publication Date: 15 June, 2015

Distributor: Online distribution. Createspace. Amazon. Gumroad.

Author Information

Frederick Eugene Feeley Jr

F.E. Feeley Jr was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan and lived there for twenty years before joining the military. He is a veteran of the US Armed Services; having done a tour in support of Operation Iraq Freedom in 2002-2003, he turned college student, pursuing a degree in political sci- ence. He now lives in Southeast Texas where he is married to the love of his life, John, and where they raise their 1½-year-old German shepherd, Kaiser.

As a young man, reading took center stage in his life, especially those nov- els about ghosts, witches, goblins, and all the other things that went bump in the night. His favorite authors include such writers as Stephen King, Dean Koontz, and Anne Rice, whose work allowed him to travel to far off plac- es and meet fascinating and scary characters. As a gay man, he wishes to be able to write good fictional literature for those who love the genre and to write characters that readers can relate to. All in all, he is a cigarette smokin’, whiskey drinkin’, rock and roll lovin’, tattoo wearin’ dreamer of a man with a wonderful partner who puts up with his crap and lets him write his stories.

Mari Evans

Mari is a wife and the proud mother of a very active daughter, two

dogs and two cats. She’s a very social kind of girl, who loves to talk. It’s both her best and worst quality.

From the moment she could read, she devoured books. Anything goes, as long as it has a happy ending.

There were always stories swirling around in her head and as a child she liked to lay in bed and let the characters have their story and happy ending. It wasn’t until 2013 that she actually tried to put one of the whole stories down and submit it to a publisher. To her own surprise and excitement it was accept- ed. This gave her the drive to keep going.

The decision to write m/m was made when a friend told a story about a young gay man that struck a chord, even as her husband had already encour- aged her to try it earlier.

Now she found her passion, having already found the love in her family and friends, her life is completely chaotic, crazy but wonderful.

Shaye Evans

Shaye is a proud Australian and best selling author of the M/M Romance genre.

At age nineteen, Shaye found her love in the m/m genre when she read her first M/M and was instantly hooked, but it took her an entire year to begin writing her own. She has had five of nine short stories accepted to be published in 2014 alone. Something she is very proud to admit—and who wouldn’t be

When not writing or plotting her next piece, Shaye keeps busy by either reading one of over four-hundred books in her collection, designing her next book cover, or shopping. She one day dreams of being a paramedic and her books making it to the movies!

Leona Windwalker

Leona is a long time staunch supporter of human rights and environmental causes. Her favorite genre is m/m fiction and she particularly enjoys the sci fi, fantasy and action suspense sub-genres, especially if they have a nice seasoning of romance. She has far too many books on her Kindle, has overloaded her phone with even more, and when not reading, writing, being driven to distraction by her children, or being overlorded by her three cats, spends time trying to locate the portal that the sock monster uses to steal socks from her dryer.

LeAnne Phoenix

Born and raised in Fort Worth, Texas in the mid-1970’s, Ms. Phoenix was

young and wild (and even free!) during the crazy wondrous decade known as the 1980’s and the even crazier but now grungy decade of the 1990’s. Music is second only to the muses that live and breathe to fill her mind with beautiful men, and music always helps them to tell their stories. She is never without her iPod or her computer no matter where she goes, although, she does like to hike and take pictures of the sky and the moon, and even the occasional shot of the sun through the branches of a tree.

An avid cat lover, Ms. Phoenix has been owned by many throughout her life, though her current owner is one Lily-Rose, who really would like for her to step away from the keyboard and pay her some attention! After all, hasn’t she earned it?

Editor Biographies

Louis J Harris

Louis lives in Germiston, South Africa. He has published three novels, “Stars Fall”, “Revival”, and “Swimmer”, his short stories have appeared across the globe. He is the owner of CoolDudes Publishing and has been an affiliate member of the South African Professional Editors Group.

Kimi D Saunders (Leona Windwalker)

Links

Louis J Harris

louisjharris@cooldudespublishing.com

Kimi D Saunders (Writes as Leona Windwalker)

https://twitter.com/ShroudedDancer

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Leona-Windwalker/890405037684824?fref=ts

Frederick Eugene Feeley Jr

www.authorfefeeleyjr.wordpress.com

Mari Evans

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mari-Evans/1412324675676352

Shaye Evans

https://www.facebook.com/ShayeLEvans?fref=ts

LeAnne Phoenix

mleannephoenix.com

FB: mleannephoenix

Twitter: @MLPhoenix

CoolDudes Publishing

https://www.facebook.com/pages/CoolDudes-Publishing/1524105151191706

https://twitter.com/search?q=cooldudes%20publishing&src=typd Twitter: (@lgbtpublisher)

https://www.pinterest.com/cdgaypub/

https://plus.google.com/u/0/108242351336143580514/videos

Demons

Have you been keeping track of all my releases this month? We’re up to three now, with more to come! (And you can preorder Astounding! at 30% off! The sale ends June 14).

But today I want to talk about the book that came out today. It’s called Of Heaven and Hell, and it’s an anthology with angel and demon themes. Yummy, right? My story is “Corruption.”

This story is a little unusual for me, in that I wrote the first few paragraphs some time ago but then let it sit. I almost always finish what I start. But I knew this one was going to be fairly dark and other deadlines were pressing, so I put it aside. But I really wanted to write it!

The feeling of a story is often as important to me as plot and characters, and this one felt a little like a 1930s noir tale–think Dashiell Hammett–and a little like Ray Bradbury in an especially dark mood. So yeah–if Dashiell Hammett and Ray Bradbury had a gay love child, it would be “Corruption.”

Anyway, I am very pleased with how the story came out, and I hope you will be too. You can read it–and several other terrific tales–now. And you can get the book for 40% off!

Please welcome Hope Ryan!

Hello there! Thank you so much to Kim Fielding for giving me some space on her blog today! I really appreciate it. A little while back, I did a post for Nikki Prince on some of the music on my playlist for The Geek and His Artist. Every story I write has some kind of soundtrack—back when I wrote fanfiction, even that had something. Geek is no exception.

Jimmy is a big fan of My Chemical Romance. At one point, he has “the talk” with his mom about his sexuality—and sex—and she suggests he blast some MCR to help clear his head on his way to his first date with Simon. One of Jimmy’s (and my) favorite MCR songs is “Teenagers,” which is a lot of fun.

Watch it here:

Teenagers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6EQAOmJrbw

Lyrics here.

Another song I’d like to share comes from Tokio Hotel. As Jimmy is waiting to pick Simon up for dinner, the song comes on the radio. The basic premise of the song is about getting through some tough stuff to bet somewhere new. Jimmy likes the parallel and, more or less makes it unofficially “their song.”

Watch it here:

Monsoon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Le_IyYLrUtQ

Lyrics here.

You can listen to/watch the whole playlist on Youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1GRRRYSRvmOAKm0yidpiiZ8PAKG0TfDx

Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to follow the rest of the tour for chances to win a paperback copy of Geek and $25 to spend at Harmony Ink! Each comment below also qualifies you for an entry to the giveaway. One reader today will win a Geek character trading card of your choice!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Simon Williams spends his lunch periods drawing his geek and trying not to think about the terrors waiting for him at home. He needs to get away from his abusive father before he suffers the same grisly fate as his mother. Because he’s learned the hard way running away doesn’t work, he’s counting the days until his eighteenth birthday.

Jimmy Bennet should be spending his lunch studying so his senior GPA is good enough to get him into college, but he can’t seem to focus thanks to his distracting artist. When he’s given the opportunity to tutor Simon in Trig and discovers Simon’s home-life nightmare, he wants nothing more than to get Simon out of danger. This need becomes more urgent when Simon comes to school the Monday after their first date with bruises, but it takes a broken leg before Jimmy can convince his boyfriend the Bennets really want him.

But the danger Simon thought was past shows up at the most unexpected time, and he must stand up to the fears he’s held so long to protect not only himself, but the man he wants to spend his life with.

You can get Geek here:

Harmony Ink Press ◊ Dreamspinner Press ◊ Amazon ◊ AllRomanceebooks ◊ Kobo ◊ Barnes & Noble

About Hope:

Hope Ryan is an out and proud bisexual, wife of a loving guy and mother to three, including an amazingly brave gender fluid son. She loves to write about the tough stuff, but also wants to see her characters happy in the end. She feels strongly about showing there is hope for everyone, no matter where you come from, how you identify your gender or who you love.

Hope likes to play board and card games and can often be found playing God with her Sims or running around, fighting monsters in a virtual version of Middle Earth. Her TV and movie preferences lean towards anime, sci fi and fantasy, though she’ll never turn down a good happily ever after love story, either. As long as there are explosions or action, she’s happy. She loves to read books of all kinds, though prefers stories about love in its many forms.

Find Hope at her website (http://www.hoperyan.com), email her (hoperyanauthor@gmail.com), or on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/hoperyanauthor).

What’s Kim Reading Now?: Trying to Grow

One of my latest reads is something a bit off the beaten track: Trying to Grow by Firdaus Kanga. It’s set in Bombay several decades ago and is the semiautobiographical story of a boy with osteogenesis imperfecta (brittle bone disease), who is also gay. It’s not a romance, although the protagonist does fall in love. But it is funny and bittersweet, and it certainly offers a unique perspective. Give it a try if you’d like to try something different.

So much new June reading!

It’s time for summer reading! And that’s good, because I have a boatload of new releases for you this month. Some of them are even free. So… let’s see what I have on tap.

Um, I hope you’re in the mood for spec fic, because that’s what I have for you in June.

First up, there’s my short story “Phoenix”. It’s part of Dreamspinner Press’s Daily Dose package, or you can buy it as a standalone right now. At 13K words, it’s a longish short.

First a soldier and then a diplomat, Juberi now spends his solitary days on a single ambition: trying to resurrect the phoenix, which has been extinct for centuries. He’s not pleased when he is obligated to attend a public ceremony in memory of an elderly friend and former colleague. But at the ceremony Juberi meets the friend’s beguiling son, Desen. Despite being from a markedly different culture, Desen has much to offer. But after decades of denying his own desires, Juberi fears there is no alchemy that will reopen him to love.

***

Another short story coming out this month is “Corruption”. It’s part of Wayward Ink Press’s Of Heaven and Hell anthology. All the stories have demon and/or angel themes. It releases on June 12. You can preorder now.

Tenrael was once a proud demon who carried nightmares to humans.

Now he exists in miserable servitude to men who plunk down ten dollars to fulfill their dark desires.

Agent Charles Grimes figures a captive demon is just another assignment.

That is until he meets Tenrael.

***

Want something longer? My novella The Downs will also be available shortly. It’s part of the Goodreads M/M Romance Group’s Love is an Open Road event. What that means is that it will be available absolutely free. If you’re a member of the Goodreads group, you can read it there. But it will also be available for everyone to download in various formats. I’ll post links on my website when they’re ready. In the meantime, look at the gorgeous cover photo! The photographer is John Andreson, who very kindly gave me permission to use his work on the cover.

Falsely convicted of murdering his father, Enitan Javed is judged irredeemable. He is banished to the Downs–where, he has been told since childhood, demons torture the condemned. Blinded and broken by his fall to the Downs, Enitan is taken in by the enigmatic Rig. But the Downs contains many dangers, not the least of which is Enitan’s hunger for revenge.

***

Last but longest, Dreamspinner Press will release my novel Astounding! on June 26. You can preorder now! This is a sci-fi/urban fantasy tale set in Seattle, Portland, and Northern California. And here’s a secret: not only do Ery and Karl make a brief appearance, but the book contains a few other surprises as well. You can preorder now.

Carter Evans is founder and editor-in-chief of Astounding!—a formerly popular spec fiction magazine currently in its death throes. Not only can he do nothing to save it, but stuck in a rathole apartment with few interpersonal connections, he can’t seem to do much to rescue his future either. And certainly all the booze isn’t helping. He snaps when he receives yet another terrible story submission from the mysterious writer J. Harper—and in a drunken haze, Carter sends Harper a rejection letter he soon regrets.

J. Harper turns out to be John Harper, a sweet man who resembles a 50s movie star and claims to be an extraterrestrial. Despite John’s delusions, Carter’s apology quickly turns into something more as the two lonely men find a powerful connection. Inexplicably drawn to John, Carter invites him along on a road trip. But as they travel, Carter is in for some big surprises, some major heartbreak… and just maybe the promise of a good future after all.

To celebrate the release of Astounding! I’ll be posting two little freebies here. One of them is a brief outtake from the novel–with appearances from some familiar guests. And the other is a short story featuring two of the book’s secondary characters. And drag queens. Look for them near the end of the month.

***

I’ll have more coming up later in the summer, but this ought to hold us for a while. So brew some iced tea, find a comfy spot in the shade, and get ready to read!

What’s Kim Reading Now: The Night Inspector

One of my latest reads wasn’t m/m and wasn’t romance–although there was a brief, unexpected scene with two men, and although a romantic relationship helps drive the story.

The Night Inspector by Frederick Busch is set in New York City right after the Civil War. The protagonist, WIlliam Bartholomew, was a Union sharpshooter who had half his face blown away in the war and now wears a mask in public. He’s a complex and fascinating character, somehow both coldblooded and sympathetic. He befriends Herman Melville, who’d achieved fame with Moby-Dick and other books but by 1867 had seen his literary light fade.

The writing is not easy to read. It’s complex and many-layered, written much in the style of the mid 19th century. The scenes often jump time from 1867 to the Civil War or to Bartholomew’s youth. And what’s described is often very ugly. But the writing is nevertheless beautiful, and it truly drew me into the story and setting.

Angry Walks

So today, my older daughter bombed a couple of exams she had sworn she was prepared for, and therefore didn’t need to study for. Then my husband got home from work and started loudly threatening all sorts of things, such as NO DATING FOR THE NEXT YEAR! (She’ll be a junior in high school, so good luck trying to enforce that. Also, she currently isn’t dating anyone anyway.) And NO PHONE. And NO INTERNET ALL SUMMER. (All of which I would have to enforce, since he’s at work all day.) Then my younger daughter insisted that A. it’s okay to eat a bowl of whipped cream, B. it’s a snack, not a dessert, and C. fruits and veggies aren’t really part of dinner.

I was just finishing up the Really Awful Semester anyway, and I just about lost it. Heads were going to roll.

But instead of going postal, I took an Angry Walk. I’d already done my daily 3.2-mile walk, but I stormed out the door, iPhone in armband, and did another 1.5 miles. Fairly fast. I probably stomped.

I felt way better by the time I returned, and nobody suffered bodily injury.

The past few months have been tough, and I’ve been doing a lot of Angry Walks. I’ve walked over 1400 miles–over 3.3 million steps–since I got my Fitbit last year. It’s a lot better option than booze or mayhem.

Do you take Angry Walks? What are your healthy stress relievers?

Ooh! That’s Interesting!: Flow

One of my favorite psychologists is Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. For one thing, there’s that wonderfully unpronounceable and unspellable Hungarian name. More importantly, though, he pioneered research on the concept of flow.

Flow is the wonderful experience of becoming completely immersed in whatever you are doing. So much so that you temporarily lose your sense of self, and the rest of the world drops away. While you’re in flow, you essentially become what you are doing.

In order to achieve flow, you have to do something that you perceive to be challenging and that you believe you are skilled at. It might be achieved while playing a sport, repairing a car, painting a mural… or writing a story.

I don’t always achieve flow when I write. Some days I have to barehandedly wrest every goddamned word from bedrock and lay it bleeding on the page. Some days hitting my minimum word count goal–2000 words–is like wrestling alligators in a pit full of porcupines, and I’m certain that every word I do write sucks. But then there are the days when the words just, well, flow. The story enfolds gorgeously in my head, the pieces of the plot fall together, the characters shout their dialogue gladly, the metaphors leap right into my lap. On those days, I clack out paragraphs as fast as my poor typing skills permit. I write five, six thousand words. My record is over 7000 words in one evening.

I think reading a really good book can put us in the same mindset. When I was maybe 12, I sat on the little patio outside our house, deep in a book. I can’t remember what I was reading and I don’t know how long I sat there. But I do know that when I finished the book and rejoined the world, I realized that a spider had anchored her complex web between me and the edges of the chair. That’s how still and unaware I’d been.

What activities give you the flow experience?