GRL 2016

#GRL2016 Blog Tour: Featured Author Anna Zabo

June 23, 2016 by Denise

Hi, I’m Anna Zabo, and I want to thank Two Chicks Obsessed for being one of the featured bloggers for GayRomLit and for hosting me on this blog tour!

GRL was the very first convention I went to as an author. This year’s GRL will be my 4^th, but will be my first as a Featured author, so, in some way, this GRL will be all new for me and I’m excited to meet old friends and make new ones!

One of the differences between my first GRL and now is that I’m writing in a different subgenre of romance. My debut book, Close Quarter, was a paranormal romance with fae and vampires and magic. All of my books after that one have been contemporary romance.

I come from a fantasy writing background, so writing paranormal came easy, but when I started my first contemporary romance, I discovered I had a serious problem: you can’t just throw an evil vampire into a scene to raise the tension.

That was a surefire way to raise the stakes in Close Quarter. Scene lagging? Have the evil vampire show up! Woo! Monster! Heroes on the run and they have to fight to stay alive!

It’s great fun to write. (And I’ll be writing more of that, soon.)

But when I started writing the book that became Takeover, I couldn’t throw a vampire at the main characters. There were no vampires, only the real world and the people, places, and problems in it.

Man, that stuff is hard to write.

At first, I thought there were no monsters in contemporary romance. Then I realized there were, but the monsters take a very very different form. There are external forces that can tear a couple apart and other people can be monstrous, but I discovered that the most interesting, the most challenging monsters are the ones inside the heroes themselves.

They’re also the ones hardest to overcome. External forces and monstrous people can be overcome and defeated, especially when the heroes work together. When the heart of conflict comes from inside a person, that’s harder to solve. It takes realization and the strength to make a personal change. It’s often a solitary fight that requires trust and love from the hero’s partner.

The thing is, these difficulties—these monsters—are so reflective of what we face in ourselves. Insecurity, doubt, fear, loneliness. Feeling unworthy of love. The internal struggles so many of us fight.

I suppose that’s why I’ve kept writing contemporary. The demons, those monsters we face inside are so challenging—and stories give us a way to overcome them. They shine light and hope and scatter the demons we fight everyday.

Romance is pretty powerful stuff. There’s light at the end of the tunnel.

In my latest release, Due Diligence, I explore quite a few internal monsters, as well as some monstrous people and what they can do to others.

A business trip leads to a surprise encounter with an old flame in this sexy romance from the author of Just Business.

After Fazil Kurt breaks up with his girlfriend, a business trip to Seattle offers some much-needed time away. Sent by S.R. Anderson Consulting, Fazil is there to help audit Singularity Storage, a company they are trying to save. His first discovery is intriguing to say the least: One of Singularity’s engineers is Todd Douglas, Fazil’s first love.

He knows better than to get personally involved on a job like this. Back in high school, Todd broke Fazil’s heart more times than he could count, but both men have grown so much since then—and Fazil never could say no to Todd…

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Books A Million

iBooks

Kobo

Google Play

Anna Zabo writes contemporary and paranormal romance for all colors of the rainbow. She lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which isn’t nearly as boring as most people think.

She has an MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University, where she fell in with a roving band of romance writers and never looked back. She also has a BA in Creative Writing from Carnegie Mellon University

Social Media Links:

Website: https://annazabo.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/amergina

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/AnnaZabo

Facebook reader’s group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/232614087098391/

Tumblr: http://amergina.tumblr.com/ (warning, it’s mostly reblogs of Tom Hiddleston photos)

#GRL2016 Featured Author Blog Post – Laura Baumbach

June 21, 2016 by Denise

Hi, everyone! I’d like to thank everyone here at Two Chicks Obsessed with Books and Eye Candy for allowing me to be here today.

My name is Laura Baumbach. I write m/m erotic romance. I’ve been writing for fifteen years or so. I’m an RN, a wife, mother, and grandmother. I’m CEO of MLR Press, LLC. I’ve been away from writing for several years helping other m/m authors bring their work to readers. But, I’m happily back in the game.

Currently, I’m writing a romantic suspense novel, Reese Holt: The Dark Side, the start of new series for me. Reese Holt – Ex-Special Forces, ex-CIA, current Security Specialist, a mind of steel, heart of stone…and putty in the hands of a handsome math geek.

It centers around Reese Holt, an ex-Special Forces, ex-CIA agent turned private security specialist. He owns a firm that handles sensitive and impossible international and domestic security challenges. He has been a loner all his life, knowing living life on the edge every hour of every day not very conducive to a lasting relationship. He is smart, highly skilled, educated, gay, connected and deadly. He is surrounded by a loyal team of ex-soldiers he’s gathered from all branches of the service, some from around the world. He is a tough guy with a tough job that he excels at. He’s resigned to doing it alone.

Not many people would choose to spend their lives with a man who can disappear for weeks without a goodbye, sleeps with a weapon, and who’s idea of a compliment is a curt nod. Luckily for Reese Holt, just that kind of guy falls into his path. Alex Throne is the kidnapped son of a business mogul, who drops from the sky into Reese’s current mission. Reese is forced to rescued the man, and in doing so embroils himself and his team in the scheme that threw Alex in his protective path.

THE DARK SIDE will release October 2016, premiering during the week of Gay Rom Lit retreat in Kansas City. I’ll be there giving away signed print copies of the book. It will be available for pre-order at the end of July from select distributors. It is the start of a new series, and the second one is already in the planning stages, but I will be waiting to start it until after I finish the long-awaited sequel to MEXICAN HEAT titled TEQUILA SUNRISE.

I’ve been working and reworking the cover art and plan on having a cover reveal in several weeks. It was a balancing act trying to have suspenseful stock art that told the story and still attracted a reader’s eye for the cover, the ads and banners and promotional items. I’ll be giving away a special something at GRL for every print copy purchased there during the event. I hope everyone enjoys the effort that went into this book, from the characters, the writing, to the editing to the creation of the artwork.

Since I had been away from writing daily for almost seven years, I refreshed my writing skills by taking the James Patterson Master Class in writing. I found it helpful in regaining my confidence to tell a compelling story. Even those of us with a wall of writing awards can feel a little hesitancy at times, and I needed the reassurance I wasn’t wasting everyone’s time. The class and two positive and enthusiastic beta readers’ opinions got me through the process! I hope everyone who takes the opportunity to read THE DARK SIDE when it releases enjoys it and looks forward to more adventures with Reese and Alex.

In case you are interested, my website is here:

www.laurabaumbach.com

My upcoming novel is listed under FUTURE RELEASES.

Follow me on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/laura.baumbach

Other great m/m titles can be found here:

http://www.mlrbooks.com/books.php

GRL 2016 Featured Blog Post: Nicole Dennis Featured Author

June 9, 2016 by Denise

TCO is very excited to have our first Featured Author on the Official GRL Blog Tour. Thank you so much to Nicole Dennis for joining us today! Can’t wait to see you in October. 🙂

Balancing Reality with Fantasy

On the Road to GRL 2016

Nicole Dennis

Hello, I’m Nicole Dennis and thank you to Two Chicks Obsessed for being one of the wonderful Feature Bloggers for GRL 2016. This is my 4^th GRL and for the first time, I’m a Featured Author. I get to enjoy a few more responsibilities in between the fun parts of the conference. It kind of reminds me of being stuck at the day job when all I wish to do is stay in the fantasy world of writing.

Like many authors, I have to figure out how to balance working a full-time job at a small CPA firm and going home to another full-time job as a writer. Unlike most corporate America, the firm is very low-key, on the quiet side when we’re not in the crazy main tax season from January to April, and quiet. My little corner is in the far back of the office, stuck amongst boxes of files, processing area and the kitchen. I’m able to keep my netbook on one side of the desk, iTunes playing on the latest mix I selected, and a Scrivener window up with the latest WIP.

Throughout the crazier parts of tax season, it’s very rare for me to do anything but process tax returns. I’m so tired and brain-dead by the end of the day, I go home and veg. Sometimes I’m able to get some writing done, but most of the times my creative side is hidden under exhaustion and stress. The balancing act is tipped strong on the reality side.

After tax season, the balancing act shifts back to fantasy. With the work finished, often spread out throughout the work day, I’m able to concentrate on whatever WIP is calling my attention. My bosses don’t mind as long as I pay attention to whatever work they drop in front of me. Most of them are truly intrigued at my writing since they’re all entrenched deep in the linear, analytical side of their left brains. While I prefer to stay on the creative right side – yeah, did I mention I have a tendency to flip numbers around in columns and never see the mistake? A tad issue when you work for CPAs.

When I get home during after tax season, my stress-level is less, never gone completely, but the desire to create rides higher. With only Fat Cat keeping me company, I’m able to indulge and spend many hours on my laptop, lost in a story. Yeah, I admit to letting the dishes and laundry pile up while I tap away on the keyboard. Fat Cat don’t mind as long as her precious kibble drops from her feeder, her water tower remains full, and her automatic CatGenie litter box remains clean for her next visit. Simple kitteh needs. It is here that I’m the happiest.

I’ve known for a while I don’t belong in corporate America. I have a strong introvert nature with additions of a hyper-sensitive nature, depression and social anxiety. Yeah, it’s an insane mix of problems I’m constantly juggling to keep getting up and going every single day. Ideally, I would love to become a full-time author and be able to hide in my writing cave with Fat Cat to keep me company. Until my writing consistently covers the price of everyday living, I know the dream will have to remain just that.

So, the balancing act continues.

My latest release is Whatever It Takes with MLR Press.

Amazon

MLR Press

ARe

At a crossroads in life, one man will do whatever he must to rekindle the spark.

It takes an eye-opening talk for Riley Gordan to realize there’s something wrong in his twelve-year relationship with Conor Flemming. He creates extravagant events for same-sex proposals and weddings to over-the-top holiday parties, but he never considered one for Conor and him. Busier than ever, he realized his time with Conor had shrunk. He decides to use his event planning skills and put them to work to rekindle the spark.

Conor Flemming creates extraordinary cakes for anything from a cancer survivor’s celebration of life to a same-sex wedding, but never one for himself. When it comes to his life with Riley, he knows it’s failing, but not sure where it all went wrong. The silence hurts and worries him. Until a flurry of text messages changes the situation.

A quiet one, Nicole Dennis curled up with the latest book of a favorite author. Since the beginning, there were these characters in her head, worlds wanting to be built on paper, and stories wanting to be told. She began writing during class and continues to this day. Now she can let others into her imagination and worlds that always celebrate the love between two or more people within LGBT, paranormal, and fantasy.

During the day, she works in a quiet office in Central Florida, where she also makes her home, and enjoys the down time to slip into her imagination. She is owned by a semi-demonic tortie calico, affectionately known as Fat Cat.

Contact & Media Info:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/NicoleDennis.Author

Blog: http://nicoledennisauthor.blogspot.com

Website: http://nicoledennisauthor.com

Email: nicoledennis.author@gmail.com

GoodreadsQ&A with Nicole Dennis: http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/50397-q-a-with-nicole-dennis

Goodreads Profile: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2791975.Nicole_Dennis