New Look!

Hey, everyone! Nope, don't worry. Nothing's wrong with my little blog here. I was told not too long ago from someone who stopped by that they had a hard time reading the white text on the black background, so it got me thinking maybe it was time for a change in look. The last thing I ever want is for anyone to have a hard time reading the site or straining their eyes, so I made a few tweaks. Hope everyone likes the new look and will find it easier to read. If not, feel free to let me know!

Cover Art Reveal: ADAPTING INSTINCTS

Hey, guys and girls! I promised as soon as I had the cover for ADAPTING INSTINCTS, that I'd unveil it, and here it is! This is another cover from Winterheart Design and made by the multi-talented, Lex Valentine, who is not only a wonderful cover artist, but a fantastic author, as well.

Now some may call me biased, but I absolutely love this cover! The model represents Carl, and he's an excellent Carl, at that! Since the book has scenes in Chicago and Norway, I think Lex did a wonderful job blending the two locations in the background.

As of right now, things are still looking good for the book to release on March 15th at MLR Press, barring any hiccups we hit as we're editing. Fingers crossed none of those happen! I hope everyone likes the cover for Carl and Egill's story, and will enjoy the book behind it!

Blurb:

A single soft kiss, just a gentle brush of lips…but was it meant as a beginning, or a good-bye?

Every day, Carl Anderson wondered if the man…the vampire…who gave him that kiss would appear in his life again. In that time, he’s worked to come to terms with the existence of vampires, and the dangers they and their enemies pose. Always looking over his shoulder for a vampire or hunter stalking behind him, Carl wishes he could feel safe again, like he did when Egill was at his side.

As a Viking warrior and member of vampire society’s ruling body, the Tribunal, Egill Dalgaard is used to being in control of all things. But months ago, he did something that started to unravel his orderly life. He gave a kiss to a man who he was drawn to, and now, he hasn't been able to stop thinking about. He has his reasons for keeping his distance, but when he sees Carl again, all logical thoughts begin to fade.

When Carl’s actions inadvertently put Egill’s immortal life in danger, Carl must decide which path to take; whether to walk deeper into vampire society, or turn his back on the only man who’s ever made him feel secure.     

Blurb and Release Date for ADAPTING INSTINCTS

Hello, ladies and gentlemen! I've been saying that once I have the release date for Book 4 in the Instincts series, ADAPTING INSTINCTS, that I'd share it, so here I am! Everyone can expect to see my vampires coming back on March 15th. Woo hoo! Like the other books, this one will also be published at MLR Press. Actually, March is going to be a great month for vampires at MLR. They're holding a Hot Blood event and releasing tons of great vampire stories. So if you like vamps, MLR is the place to be in March!

In honor of now knowing when Carl and Egill will be making their appearance, I thought I'd share the blurb for the story. I don't have the cover art yet, but once I do, you better believe I'll post it!

For all those who have enjoyed the books and my vampires so far, I hope you'll like this new addition to the series just as much!

Blurb:

A single soft kiss, just a gentle brush of lips…but was it meant as a beginning, or a good-bye?

Every day, Carl Anderson wondered if the man…the vampire…who gave him that kiss would appear in his life again. In that time, he’s worked to come to terms with the existence of vampires, and the dangers they and their enemies pose. Always looking over his shoulder for a vampire or hunter stalking behind him, Carl wishes he could feel safe again, like he did when Egill was at his side.

As a Viking warrior and member of vampire society’s ruling body, the Tribunal, Egill Dalgaard is used to being in control of all things. But months ago, he did something that started to unravel his orderly life. He gave a kiss to a man who he was drawn to, and now, he hasn't been able to stop thinking about. He has his reasons for keeping his distance, but when he sees Carl again, all logical thoughts begin to fade.

When Carl’s actions inadvertently put Egill’s immortal life in danger, Carl must decide which path to take; whether to walk deeper into vampire society, or turn his back on the only man who’s ever made him feel secure.     

Current WIP: To The Other Side

Hello, ladies and gentlemen! I've been a little quiet, so I thought I'd do a post letting everyone know what I'm working on at the moment. When I go quiet, it usually means I've gone deep into my writing cave on a project, and that's exactly the case here.

In my last update, I mentioned about a fantasy story I'm working on. Well, I still am, but it's now about to cross the 60k mark with more story to tell, so we're in novel territory now. Woo hoo! But I wanted to take a moment to help make things a little clearer about this story, the working title of which is TO THE OTHER SIDE. It's subject to change with it still in the early stages of this work, but that seems to be what's jumped out at me for the title so far. What I wanted to clarify and what's been a concern for some folks is...yes, this story is still gay erotic romance. Don't worry! I'm not leaving the genre!

I know when some folks hear "fantasy", you're thinking heavy sword and sorcery stuff, sometimes a little dry on romance and sexual content. It's certainly not wrong to think that. But in my novel, the relationship between the heroes, Bryson Summers and Garrett Evergard, is the focal point of the story, so it's still very much like my previous works in that regard.

I don't want to say too much more about it yet, but I just wanted to assure everyone that while this is a fantasy story, you'll still be seeing what you're used to from me in my books, sweet romance and steamy love scenes :-)

Publishing is still far off for this book, but I do hope to have it released this year. I'm a HUGE lover of the fantasy genre. It's what I used to write before Jesse from Conquest turned my attention elsewhere ;-) I never published any of the fantasy stories I wrote before, but then, it wasn't until Jesse that I felt I had a work I really and truly wanted to get published. So to dip back into writing a story with a fantasy theme and combining it with my love for the m/m genre is very exciting for me. And now that I've shared a little bit more about it, I hope when it does release, those who give it a read will enjoy it!

January 5th Reader Appreciation Day: Prize List

Here you go, ladies and gentlemen! This is the amazing prize list for Reader Appreciation Day, which will be held this Saturday, January 5th, at The Sweet Spot. So many talented authors have donated prizes as their way of saying "thank you" to all you wonderful readers out there. To learn more about the author or book, just click their name.

Lex Valentine - ebook copy of BROKEN BONDS

AJ Kelton - $25 gift card to Amazon.com

Belinda McBride - ebook copy of ARCADA 2: SILVER/STEEL

Tara Lain - ebook copy of SNOW BALLS

BL Morticia - ebook copy of MY LIEUTENANT 2

BL Morticia - ebook copy of CHRISTMAS WITH MY GRINCH

Sloan Parker - ebook copy of winner's choice from her backlist

Sloan Parker - $15 in eBook Buck from AllRomance eBooks

Jambrea Jo Jones - Print copy of ALLIANCE Vol. 3, featuring ANNIHILATION and AVENGER

S.J. Frost (me!) - ebook copy of winner's choice from my backlist

And there you have it! A fantastic list of prizes donated by wonderfully talented authors, all for you, dear readers. Sloan, Jambrea, and I give our deepest thanks to all these amazing authors for their generosity. We're looking forward to another fun RAD! Hope to see you all at The Sweet Spot!

January 5th Reader Appreciation Day!

Hello, everyone! It's almost time for Reader Appreciation Day at The Sweet Spot, the Yahoo Group run by Sloan Parker, Jambrea Jo Jones, and me! We hold this fun event on the first Saturday of every month, and here's the official announcement for January. The list of prizes will be posted this Friday.

Sloan, Jambrea, and I are thrilled to announce M/M Reader Appreciation Day at The Sweet Spot. This is one day every month for authors of M/M romance to say "thanks" to all you readers out there who support our writing efforts.

Readers, stop by the Yahoo Group  to chat with authors and enter for a chance to win free books and other prizes from a variety of m/m authors.

Reader Appreciation Day will be held on Saturday, January 5th. On that day, we'll post a full list of all prizes available in the group. Just respond to the giveaway thread on the Yahoo Group between 8am and 8pm EST to be included in the drawing.

Authors, if you're interested in participating in the giveaway, send an email to: thesweetspotmm@gmail.com

Please include what you'd like to donate for the January giveaway, a link, and a cover art pic. In the future, we'll include you in our monthly announcement for a chance to donate. You can participate as little or as often as you'd like. During the Reader Appreciation Day event, everyone who donated a prize is welcomed to post to the group with a blurbs and excerpts of their work. Other than books, gift certificates and other prizes are also welcomed!

Hope to see you all there!

Looking Back, Looking Ahead

Why, hello there, 2013. It's nice to meet you, especially since there were rumors, thanks to the Mayans, that you weren't coming. I'm glad, though, that you've arrived. Here's hoping we get along fabulously! 

Happy New Year!

It's the start of another year, a fresh beginning that will hopefully have many days filled with happiness for everyone. And of course, for many it means a time of looking back on what 2012 brought, and looking ahead hoping on what 2013 will bring. 

When I look back on 2012 as an author, I see a very good year. I'm extremely proud of the four stories I put out; Heartstrings, Of Honor and Love, Loving Instincts, and Feeling the Rhythm. At the start of 2012, I'd hoped to release four novels, but only managed three and one novella. Overall, I'd say that's not too bad. All those stories together roughly come to an approximate word count of 278,000. Where did all those words come from?! 

So even though I didn't get to everything I hoped to in 2012, I'm still counting it as a fantastic year. It even closed out with Conquest and No Fear being named on Totally Booked as two of their Favorite Reads of 2012! My thanks to them for the wonderful honor of being included on that fantastic list! 

Since 2012 was such a great year, that now brings me to what will I work toward for 2013? Well, here's what I'm thinking at this moment, though, it's all subject to change as the year goes on.

I'd like to see the fourth Instincts book, Adapting Instincts, release. Actually, it's kind of cheating for me to have that on my 2013 To Do List, since it was started and finished in 2012. All that's left to do is go through editing. But hey, there's still work to do on it, so I'm counting it! It's slated to release in March and will be my first release of the new year. Yay! There's one novel down!

After that...well, I don't have my next release planned. I've got to finish writing a few things first. So, 2013 might end up being a light release year for me, depending on how long it takes me to write the projects I want to get to and how long those books turn out to be. But on the project list for this year, in no particular order, are:

 - My first gay fantasy novel - Currently writing.

 - Tanner Hartell's story (lead singer from Lion's Rampant in Heartstrings) - Not started.

 - A novella for Brandon and Shunichi from the Conquest series - Not started and this one is a BIG maybe. Not 100% sure if I'll write this one yet. Maybe you guys can help me decide if you'd like to see a story about them taking the next step in their relationship ;-) 

 - The expanded version of "A Little Bit Country" - Not started yet, but it will be done! Oh yes. It will be done.

 - Instincts Book 5 - Maybe? Possibly? Still pondering, and yeah, not started yet. 

And that, ladies and gentlemen, are my thoughts of what to do in 2013. As you can see, it's all still a bit sketchy at this point, but I ope it all sounds good. If you got suggestions on what you'd like to see, feel welcomed to say so! After all, the biggest part of what made 2012 such a wonderful year for me as an author was all of you. Throughout the year, you gave me and my work so much support. I'm eternally grateful, and I hope that in 2013, I'll be able to bring you more stories you'll enjoy! All the best wishes to each of you for happiness in this shiny New Year!