Friday, December 12, 2014

Free Books!

Now that's what every book lover likes to hear! I know I do! Especially when they're FREE BOOKS by some incredibly talented authors and at an awesome publishing house. Starting December 13th, MLR Press is offering a book for free download through the 24th in celebration of the holidays and to give a little back to all the readers who give their support all year long.

Check out all these great books and authors!


And yep, on the 18th, Conquest is going to be available for free! So be sure to stop by MLR Press every day to get a free book, and maybe even discover a new favorite author :D
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About Those Ellora's Cave Titles

In my last blog post about my new website layout, I said I put my Ellora's Cave books back on my website and I'd get around to explaining why soon. I do apologize that's taken me so long. Life keeps moving faster and faster, I swear.

With me putting the titles back on my website, and eventually I'll get them up here again too, I'm afraid it does not mean all is well between me and Ellora's Cave. They've issued two payments to me and as of this moment that I'm writing this, they've paid me up through June. So on that front, there's been a small bit of improvement. Not much, though. They're still behind in payment. When/if any checks do arrive, I count it more of a surprise than having any expectation of getting paid regularly. So money isn't why I put those titles back up again. What's more important to me is I don't want my actions to have a harmful effect on anyone else.

When you're with a publishing house, you're connected to the other authors, even if you don't know them personally, or may have never spoken to some of them. At least, that's how I view it. I'm not saying to buy Ellora's Cave titles. I'm not saying to not buy them. That's a personal decision that each person has a right to make on their own. For me personally, what it basically breaks down to is I don't want my negative experiences to have repercussions against anyone else. Granted I'm not alone in my negative experiences, after all, I'm not getting paid regularly either, but I'm just trying to make sure I'm not harming anyone else as I'm dealing with the negativity. Enough people have already been harmed.

It also hit me when we had the last Reader Appreciation Day at the Sweet Spot, that if I do a giveaway offering a title from my backlist, and someone goes to my website to see the books I've written, if those books aren't up there, then they may not know they can select them for a prize. I'm okay with giving the books away as a prize ;-)

And there's also the fact that payment aside, the editing (or lack thereof in regards to line editing and proofing supplied by Ellora's Cave) aside, I'm proud of the actual stories themselves. I love my guys in those stories. And I worked damn hard to write those books, so whether I'm getting paid or not, they're still my work. Even if Ellora's Cave won't give me my rights back, they're still MY books.

Now, do my reasons make sense? I honestly have no idea, but there's not a lot about the whole Ellora's Cave situation that does. All I know is, I'm still hoping for the best with all the authors, editors, reviewers, and readers who've gotten tangled in this.


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Monday, November 24, 2014

New Website!

Well, I suppose it's not really new. It's still the same url, but my website, http://www.sjfrost.com/, has a new look now. It all came about because my host server decided to no longer support the platform my website was originally built on. Which, at first was annoying and it took a lot of hours to rebuild the site, but I think I like it better now, so it actually worked out for the best! The new site might still have a kink or two in it, but I think for the most part, I've worked them all out. I decided to go with a pretty clean and simple design, and I picked blue for the color because...well, it's Jesse Alexander's favorite color! So the color is for him :-) 

When I was rebuilding, I was going through my character stats and saw there are probably a few more characters I could do some basic stats on, such as Renart Bellerose and Troy Raines. But I also wanted to say, if there are any characters who don't have a stat page and you'd like to see one for them, please do feel welcomed to let me know! You can post it here, hit me up on Facebook or Twitter, or email me. And if there's a little fact about a character that you'd like to know (such as favorite color), let me know and I'll see if I can work that into their page. 

Also, if you're checking out the site, you'll notice that I put my Ellora's Cave titles and excerpts up again. I'll be getting them up here eventually too. That's a whole other post on why I've decided to do that, and I'll get to writing it up about my decision and posting it soon.

And so, there we go! I just wanted to give a head's up that things are a little different on my website, and hopefully, a little more user friendly too. Hope everyone likes it!


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Friday, November 14, 2014

November Reader Appreciation Day: The Prize List!






Hello, everyone! This Saturday, November 15th, is Reader Appreciation Day and Open Excerpt Day over at The Sweet Spot. It's been a while since we've hosted RAD. We've decided that we'll now be holding it every other month, rather than each month. This month's will be the last RAD for 2014! And we have some outstanding prizes donated by all these incredible authors to wrap up a great year. Thank you so much to all the authors who have donated! There are links with each prize listed, so just click on those to learn more about the books or authors.







Any author who would still like to donate a prize is welcomed to. All you have to do is send out an email to: thesweetspotmm@gmail.com  Please state what you'd like to donate for the November giveaway, include a link to your work and a cover art pic. Reader Appreciation Day is also an Open Excerpt Day, so all M/M authors are invited to stop by the Yahoo group, share excerpts and your latest news!

Readers, be sure you swing by and see what some of your favorite authors got going on! We put on this day all for you! And don't forget to enter in the giveaway on the Yahoo group!

The prize list will be posted throughout the day at The Sweet Spot Yahoo group, starting at 8:00 am EST. To enter in the giveaway, all you have to do is reply to one of the Giveaway emails. Reader Appreciation Day wraps up about 8:00 pm EST, with the winners announced shortly thereafter. Authors who have donated a prize will be contacted after the giveaway closes with their winner's information so you can send your prize personally. 

Hope to see everyone tomorrow at The Sweet Spot!


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Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Happy Anniversary, Conquest!

Five years ago, on October 21, 2009, my birthday, my life changed in an amazing way. On that day, I became a published author. I'd had a few short stories out prior, but this was different, bigger, even more special. It was the release day of my very first novel, Conquest.

I had started writing Conquest a few years prior in 2005, but it took time to build courage and polish the story before I really felt confident presenting it to publishers. It's been a wild ride these past five years, many highs, a few lows, but through all this time, all the stories I've written since, Conquest continues to have a special place in my heart and I know it always will.

I've said before that I credit the main character of Conquest, Jesse Alexander, with making me the author I am, and I still do. When I had returned to college to finish my Bachelor's degree in English/Creative Writing, despite having taken some years off from school, I still didn't have a strong focus to become an author. I was dabbling in fantasy, thought that was the direction I was going in, then it all changed. Jesse came to me as a force stronger than anyone or anything I'd ever written about. And with him he brought Evan, Brandon, all those he knew and cared for. He also brought focus and direction, and as I worked on Conquest, I knew then where my heart was for storytelling.

From Conquest came the other books in the series. Then I began other works, the Instincts, the Terra series, some stand alone stories here and there. But it all began with Conquest and it's been the most amazing journey.

Along this journey, I've met some of the most incredible people. Authors and readers who inspire me, and whose kindness and support continue to touch my heart. I'm grateful to everyone who's joined me on this journey. Some of you have been with me since it began, some have joined recently. There really aren't adequate words to fully express how much it means to have you all be part of this journey with me. I'm so very thankful.

So here, on the five year anniversary of Conquest being published, I'm sending out love and gratitude to everyone who has let me share my stories with you. I'm giving my thanks to Jesse who began it all, and every character whose told me their story since. Here's to the journey continuing on.



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Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Update: Ellora's Cave and My Work, Part 2 - Payment

I received a surprise when I went out to the mailbox today after my day job. There was a check inside from Ellora's Cave. I've heard in recent days of checks trickling out to authors, and I kept wondering if one would hit my mailbox. Now, just shy of a week after my initial post, there it was, my payment.

There was something odd about the check, though. Same as many authors have noted, my check was also dated for August 29th and the envelope had an meter mail stamp with no date. Seeing the actual date on the check brought numerous questions to my mind. I live in Ohio, only about 2 1/2 hours away from the Ellora's Cave offices in Akron. Had the check really been lost in the mail all this time? Had the check been cut in August, but sat on for a few weeks...for whatever reason, perhaps until there were sufficient funds to cover it? A troubling thought since it wasn't very large. Did EC's royalty department finally get around to my email they'd previously ignored and realized they hadn't sent payment? Is Ellora's Cave working to get their accounting books in order for their lawsuit against Dear Author? Are they trying to turn a new corner and get caught up on payments?

Other questions came to mind, but all I have are speculations for answers and speculations aren't facts. What is a fact is that they've issued payment to me. I do thank them for that, but it seems there are still many authors, editors, and cover artists still waiting for their back payments. I'm not sure what system is used for distributing payments, but I'm hoping that this is a sign everyone who is still owed soon finds a surprise in their mailboxes, also.

I also wanted to address briefly that there seems to be a misconception that authors who have requested their rights back are doing so to get a book that was edited for "free." For me, that most certainly is NOT the case. In fact, I've had numerous concerns and complaints about the editing with my books published by Ellora's Cave. One in particular, I had even requested for it to be pulled from sale because it desperately needed a re-edit. I hadn't been included on the copy editing or proofreading for any of my works, and this book seemed to have shot through editing to release. Unfortunately, my concerns and requests never went anywhere, and the editing was a point I mentioned in my first request to get my rights back.

But hey, I'm woman enough to take responsibility for the errors in my books. It's my name on the cover, after all. I had gone into Ellora's Cave expecting a higher quality of editing, but had I been aware of things ahead of time, I would've put measures in place to ensure my books were more extensively edited before going to editing...if that makes sense. And that really wasn't brief, but more of a long way of saying, no, having a "free" edited book to then turn around and make a profit on is not my reason for requesting rights back. Should I ever get those books back, they'll have to be entirely re-edited.

The payment issues, the lawsuit against Dear Author, the demand in said lawsuit for anonymous commenters to have to reveal their identity, the lack of communication from Ellora's Cave on many issues, the fact that there's hardly any editing staff left and I have no editor assigned to me, have all equaled to the reason I want my books back; trust has been broken.

In any relationship, it doesn't do either party well if one side has lost trust in the other. To continue to force that relationship does nothing but build animosity. For this, I still hope that in an act of good faith, integrity, and professionalism, Ellora's Cave will revert my rights back to me and to all the authors who want their rights back.

There are still many questions and unknowns regarding the entire Ellora's Cave situation, and as it continues to progress, I'll keep hoping for all the best to everyone involved.
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Saturday, October 4, 2014

In Other News...

I'm writing again! So, a while back I had announced I was taking a break from writing. I had only intended it to be about a month, but it ended up being a bit longer. Recently, I fired up my computer, created a new file, and put my fingers to work. Now I'm over 10k deep into a new manuscript, one that will be going to MLR Press, the home of the majority of my works.

I mentioned it on Twitter and I shared the first paragraph of the WIP on Facebook, but now I have a working title for this story, Acting on Love. We'll see if it sticks through the writing of the story and when I turn it in. Since I shared the first paragraph on Facebook, I'll share it here too:

    Brandon held the Suzuki steady with one hand, his other rested on his hip. Now that he was nearly home, cruising slow and easy, he could relax from the chaos of maneuvering the motorcycle through the heart of Chicago. Entering his home neighborhood brought an instant calm over him and he needed as much calmness as he could get right now.

I have a feeling some of you just might know who this is and what series he's from. So yep, it's Brandon Alexander from the Conquest series. I'm working on a novella for him and Shunichi, and I'm loving working with them again.

I know my last post was a bit gloomy, so I wanted to share what I hope will be some positive news for all my dear readers :-)
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Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Ellora's Cave and My Work

I'm not happy to write this post and I'm going to be rather quick with it. Honestly, the longer I write about this situation, I fear I'll run the risk of becoming unprofessional as my emotions take hold. So for now, I'm going to not give too many details and just touch on this issue as it pertains to my work with Ellora's Cave.

As many of my dear readers know, I had excitedly announced that I would be writing for Ellora's Cave about a year ago. Now, I'm embarrassed to be associated with them. There's been some gross unprofessionalism on their part recently, and I don't appreciate being associated with any publishing house who feels the need to engage in a lawsuit against a book review site.

I've personally had problems with Ellora's Cave since becoming an author with them. I'm not going to go into details on those...yet, but I will state that at this point, I'm less concerned about getting royalties than I am about getting my rights back to my books.

I've requested rights back on the three books I have published there and the one that is submitted. On the one that I had submitted per contract obligations, it was turned in just before all of this blew-up. That manuscript has been in limbo for two months with no word being given to me on it's status. Not even if its title has been approved. I had handed it in to my former editor there, who was released with many other editors at Ellora's Cave. She had passed it on to one of the remaining editors, who has since resigned, so basically, I have no idea what's happening with that manuscript.

So far, I've requested my rights back twice. The first time, I was refused instantly, though I was extended an offer to buy my books back...of an exorbitant sum of money. At least, exorbitant to me. For my second request, I was told they had six months to consider my request. So, now I wait. And hope. I have so much hope that they'll give me my rights back.

Due to the factors I've said here and others that I haven't spoken of, I've pulled my works that are published by Ellora's Cave from my website and blog. I also will not be writing any sequels to those works, as unfortunately, per the contracts, those sequels would be published by Ellora's Cave. For this, I apologize from the bottom of my heart to all my readers.

It's a very sad situation with Ellora's Cave and I my heart goes out my fellow authors and to the readers, reviewers, editors, and cover artists who have been caught in this mess.
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Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Special Guest: Jamie Lake





JAMIE LAKE -- THE ‘BAD BOY’ OF GAY ROMANCE

A while back, some of you may remember I was interviewed by Jamie Lake and he asked me some great questions. You can see that interview on his blog, here. Now, I'm honored to have him stop by and share about his work! Coming up with a new series that will surprise and delight m/m readers isn’t easy, but author Jamie Lake seems have that in the bag. I had the opportunity to connect with the new author about his series Bad Boy and how he juggles writing so many different book series at the same time.

For those who aren’t familiar with the Bad Boy series, tell us about it. It’s the story of a really hot teacher who becomes desperate for money when his hours are cut and the only choice he has is to moonlight as an erotic masseuse for men. The problem is, he has to keep is profession a secret from the school and it’s right when he meets the guy of his dreams, who happens to be not only one of his student’s dads but also a cop.

You have about 4 different series running right now, how do you juggle all the story lines? It’s not easy. But I try to focus on just one series at a time. I put my whole heart, soul, tears into each novel I write and I try to focus on just that novel. It’s like trying to date more than one person at a time, it can be done but it’s real hard. Believe me, before I met my partner, I tried. If you really want to have a great novel or relationship, you really have to put your everything into that one. That’s what I believe, anyway.

When you come up with an idea to write a novel or a series, how do you go from idea to completed book? Well, lately I take something that’s happened to me or someone I know and sort ask myself what if ….? And I think to myself, what would make this situation even more intense or more emotional for my readers. Then I write a loose outline and start writing. When I say outline, it’s usually just a few sentences about what I think each chapter will be about and I write, typos and all. I don’t look back while I write. That’s why when I do read the entire thing, I think “wow! Did I write that?” then it’s off to my editor or co-writer depending on the story to fill in the details. I love storytelling but other people are much better at prose than I am, so I let them do their job. Then I read the whole thing from beginning to end, making it better along the way and it’s off to the copyeditor and my beta-readers. It’s a system that seems to have worked for me so far.

People have a lot of choices for m/m, at last count, I saw there were something like 25,000 m/m titles out there from years past, what makes this Bad Boy series so different? Well, that’s the thing there are thousands of titles available but there are at least a million or so m/m readers out there and new readers are born every day. There more than enough readers to around for everyone. That’s why I like supporting other m/m authors, we can introduce our readers to each other and each other’s books.

Your style in Bad Boy is very simple but descriptive. How do you decide what type of style or voice you’re going to use for each story. Well, I think a novel sings to me. A lot of times, I’ll take a real long walk and I’ll almost hear how a certain scene should be written. A statement or a question will pop out and I think to myself, “That’d make a great opening line or beginning of one character’s dialogue.”

What is your greatest dream that would happen for the Bad Boy series? Wow. I’d absolutely love it if readers demanded the story continue on past Book 5, if they were emotionally invested in the characters. I’d love to write a parallel series of Chip and his son and his life and what happened before he met Peter. If reader want that, I’ll do exactly that.

Where can we get a copy of Bad Boy? You can get it exclusively on Amazon http://bit.ly/BADBOYNOVEL1 or email me at JamieLakeNovels AT gmail.
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Friday, September 5, 2014

New Release: Storming Love: Gage and Collin

Hooray! I'm very excited to announce the release of my new novella, Storming Love: Gage and Collin! The book is now live at MLR Press, AllRomance eBooks, and Amazon.

I've been talking about this one for a while and I'm super happy that it has now gone live. And I can't wait for everyone to get a chance to read the rest of the stories that will be coming up in the Storming Love series! Here's that full line-up of awesome authors who I'm sharing company with again:

September 5th - Gage and Collin - S.J. Frost
September 12th - Bradley and Mike - Stephani Hecht
September 19th - Bear and Travis - Parker Williams
September 25th - Austin and Troy - Kendall McKenna
October 3rd - Nelson and Caleb - Kaje Harper
October 10th - Doug and Neal - Diana DeRicci

I hope everyone who checks out my story and the Storming Love series will enjoy it!


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Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Sneak Peek Excerpt - Storming Love: Gage and Collin

Howdy, everyone! Now that the release date fast approaching on September 5th and I'm reading over the final galley of the story now, I thought it's about time I gave a little sneak peek at my upcoming release, Storming Love: Gage and Collin.

With this story's release, five more amazing stories by five incredibly talented authors are going to follow, each one connected by the characters facing the same hurricane. I've mentioned these five awesome authors before, but they are most certainly worth mentioning again. Here is the full line-up of authors for the Storming Love compilation:

September 5th - Gage and Collin - S.J. Frost
September 12th - Bradley and Mike - Stephani Hecht
September 19th - Bear and Travis - Parker Williams
September 25th - Austin and Troy - Kendall McKenna
October 3rd - Nelson and Caleb - Kaje Harper
October 10th - Doug and Neal - Diana DeRicci

There's going to be a whole lot of good reading ahead for everyone! I'm super excited for all the stories to release and very proud to have been part of this project.

And now, it's my pleasure to introduce everyone to Gage and Collin!


Blurb:
As a professional rider on the NRHA circuit, Gage Chapman has known success. He’s also known discrimination. Many people didn’t want an openly gay rider competing in the sport, much less winning again and again on his champion Paint stallion, The Shaman. Wanting to get away from it all, Gage had left Utah to set up a breeding farm in North Carolina and there, he found what he’d always hoped for, a man he could love.

Collin Maddox is the town deputy with his sights set on becoming sheriff someday. He knows local attitudes wouldn’t be real pro on voting a gay sheriff into office, so he’s kept his sexuality a secret for years. For all the care he has for Gage, his secret tore them apart, leaving them both with regrets and broken hearts.

Now Hurricane Lauris is coming in fast and strong. Gage has refused to evacuate and leave his horses behind. Knowing Gage is alone, Collin goes to Gage’s farm to help him, only to find himself trapped there. Hurt, anger, and passion erupts between them. As the storm rages around them, both men wonder if this is a new beginning, or the final ending.
Chapter One

Gage stepped outside and caught hold of his black cowboy hat, gripping the doorframe with his other hand as the wind slammed into him. The hair on his arms rose with the electricity and energy in the air and also, some fear. The slate-gray sky was growing steadily darker. If he didn’t know it was morning, he would have thought night was preparing to fall. The black clouds in the distance foretold it was only going to get darker.

Hurricane Lauris was coming and she was going to wreak havoc.

Gage made sure the door to his house was securely closed, then looked across his farm toward the long main barn up the dirt lane from his brick home. Fear made his heart beat quicker than usual and it wasn’t for himself. It was for all the lives in there: mares, foals, yearlings, youngsters in training, and most certainly his stallion, Shaman. Twenty-one horses total, too many to evacuate.

When word came of Lauris, and how big and powerful the hurricane was going to be, he’d called the owners of the mares stabled at his place for stud service from Shaman and told them to pick up their horses and get them to a safe place. All the visiting mares were gone now, but it would’ve been a huge operation to move his horses. Hell, it had been when he’d brought them out to North Carolina from Utah a little over a year ago. He’d had fewer horses of his own then and it still took a semi hauling a massive air-ride equipped trailer for the cross-country journey.

On top of that, even if he could’ve secured transportation, there was nowhere out of the hurricane’s path that he could take all of them. He wasn’t about to hook up his horse trailer, load a few of them, and abandon the rest to their fate. Whatever fate waited for them, would be his as well.

Gage scanned the empty pastures, watched young trees swaying and bowing with the wind.  There were no large trees near the house, but there were several lining the main barn and he didn’t trust them to hold. He’d already prepared the visiting mare barn for the younger horses and ones in training. He’d moved half of them before his exhaustion caught up to him and he needed to take a quick break.

He still wasn’t sure it was the right thing to do, keeping the horses in the barn. The shelters in the pastures were solid, the posts supported underground with concrete when he’d had them built to be able to withstand high wind, but he worried about something blowing into the pastures and hitting one of the horses. Instinct would probably guide the older horses to seek out the safest part of the pasture and he knew Shaman would guide his mares and foals to where they’d be most protected, but he still didn’t want to risk letting the babies weather this outside. And what if one of the trees near the pastures fell and crushed the fence, leaving an escape for the horses to get loose?

Lauris was his first hurricane. When he moved to the Wilmington area last year, that first hurricane season had been a quiet one, and in turn, gave him a sense of comfort he knew now he shouldn’t have had. When the news reports came in that Lauris was going to hit landfall as a Category Four, his stomach had knotted, his chest tightened, and he felt completely lost.

He’d called the friends he’d made in the area with horses, called his vet, his farrier, asking all of them for advice. For every one who said to keep the horses in the barn, another person said keep them out to pasture. Since no one had a solid answer, he went with his gut and decided he’d keep them in. Only, he hadn’t thought of the trees near the barn until the wind started kicking up. The visiting mare barn was new, same as the massive indoor arena he’d had built off the back of the main barn, and there were no trees around it. Both buildings would be safe. He hoped.

Gage gave the eastern clouds another wary glance. He’d thought he would have more time. He’d been working nonstop in preparing the farm and he was going to be taking it down to the last minute.

The sky…he’d never seen anything like it. He’d seen bad thunderstorms before, but they seemed nothing more than a gentle shower compared to the fierce and dark power in the sky at that moment. The clouds were so thick, rolling and swirling. Lightning danced and flickered within them and it seemed the sun itself had retreated from the heavens before the force coming in.

It all made him feel so very small…and so very alone.

He had sent his two farmhands away two days ago to be with their families and get out of the storm’s path. He didn’t think it would bother him so much, facing the storm on his own. The darkness growing, the winds strengthening, he wished had he someone with him— a certain someone in particular. As far as that person was concerned, hurricane or not, that didn’t make it different than any other day. It’d been two months since he and Collin ended their relationship. The time hadn’t eased the ache of missing him, or the hurt, anger, regrets…

Gage took a deep breath. Now was not the time to face all that again. He was sure he’d have plenty of time while this storm raged around him to think on what he and Collin once had together…or what they could’ve had. He wouldn’t have anything else to do except think. That might be one of the most daunting things about this damn storm.

Taking a deep breath to clear his mind, Gage stepped toward the porch steps. Out the corner of his eye, he caught the flash of blue and red lights.

Gage turned his head toward the lights. A police SUV rolled into his driveway and through the open gates. He’d left the gates open in case they locked up when the power went out, but he couldn’t believe who was coming up the driveway now.

The SUV rolled to a halt, the lights blinking out. The driver’s side door opened, Collin Maddox, deputy sheriff…his ex…climbed out, his black hair cropped too short to be tousled by the wind.

They’d started seeing each other four months after he moved here. Some punks had come onto his property in the middle of the night, broke into his tack room, and stolen three saddles. None of his saddles were cheap, but his show saddles alone were worth a few thousand apiece and the thieves had gotten his favorite one. Too bad for them, the tack room had an alarm and a security camera in it. When the alarm sounded, he’d bolted out of bed, snatched his cell phone, and raced out to the barn. The thieves were gone by the time he got out there, but he’d called the police and it was Collin who responded.

When Collin rolled up in his police SUV and stepped out, he almost forgot the reason he’d called the police in the first place. He’d never seen a sexier or hotter man than Collin. The need to offer smiles to Collin and throw in some hints at being interested took over some of his anger at the thieves. Collin had stayed professional as he took notes, but was also extremely friendly, leading him to believe there was interest on Collin’s end, as well.

Two days later, Collin had called him to report he’d found the thieves and his saddles. To thank Collin for all his hard work, of course, he had to offer to take him to dinner. Collin had accepted and it led to the most amazing night of sex he’d ever had in his life. Many, many more followed for eight months…and then, it was over.

And he hadn’t stopped missing him since it’d ended. Though, from how pissed Collin looked now, it didn’t appear as if the feeling was mutual on Collin’s end.

Collin slammed the door closed and marched around the front of the SUV, glaring up at him with eyes only a few shades lighter than the dark gray sky. “What the hell are you still doing here? Not that I don’t already know.”

Two months later and Collin had the same tone of voice as when they last spoke. Despite that, Gage couldn’t stop his gaze from moving down Collin’s six foot two body or his mind from remembering one of the reasons why they had been together. He’d seen Collin naked so many times, the crisp khaki uniform shirt and dark pants didn’t hinder his mind from imagining Collin bare.

Collin’s chest was thick with muscle, his abs well-defined, black hair dusting both his chest and abs, thinning to a trail that led down to a long, veined cock, the girth of which always left him feeling it the next day and wanting more. He remembered the power and muscle in Collin’s legs, how good their weight felt up on his shoulders when they’d switch and he was driving into Collin’s ass. And that ass, the round curves of the cheeks, the heat and tightness of it on the inside; he never could get enough of it.

Their relationship had its problems, but the bedroom had never been one of them. If sex would’ve been enough to make it work, they would’ve grown old together.

But it wasn’t.

His defenses rising from Collin’s reprimanding tone, Gage folded his arms across his chest. “You’re right, you should know. I’m making sure my horses are going to be all right.”

Collin stomped up the steps. “Your horses will be fine. Get in the truck. I’m taking you to the storm shelter.”

Being four inches shorter, Gage tipped his head back to meet Collin’s gaze. “The hell you are.”

Collin snapped his arm out to the side, pointing to the east. “In case you can’t see it, there’s a big fucking hurricane about to make landfall. It’s my job to make sure folks are evacuated and safe, and you’re neither. Now c’mon.”

“Your job? That’s the only reason you came here? Because it’s your fucking job?”

Gage watched as Collin took a deep breath, turning his head to the side as if looking at him would only increase his anger. Just like old times. They were picking up right where they left off. He didn’t know how he could be so happy and so pissed to see someone.

Collin slowly brought his gaze back to him. As he spoke, his voice was unnaturally even with forced patience. “What’s it going to take to get you to leave here with me?”

“There’s nothing you can do. I’m not leaving.”

“Of all the stubborn…” Collin flung his arm back, pointing to the SUV. “Get in the goddamn truck!”

Gage stepped forward, closing the distance between him and Collin to half an arm’s length. “I’m not leaving my horses!”

Collin’s eyes narrowed with anger. “I know you love them. God knows you spent more time with them than you ever did with me, but you can’t stay here and risk your life for them!”

“Well I sure as shit ain’t gonna leave them to fend for themselves! And maybe we would’ve spent more time together if you wouldn’t have been ashamed to be seen with me!”

“You never did understand—”

“I understood more than you ever realized! I tried to tell you that! I tried to be there for you, but you didn’t want that! You didn’t want a relationship! All you wanted was a fuck!”

Collin spun away, storming toward the steps. “I don’t know why I thought I should come here.”

“I don’t know why you did, either. Other than it being your job.”

Collin tore open the door to his SUV and glared up at him, raising his voice over the wind. “That’s something else you never understood. How much I care about you.”

Gage took a step forward, but his voice caught in his throat as Collin slid into the SUV and slammed the door closed. He stood motionless, despite how his mind screamed for him to race down the steps as Collin swung the SUV around. He did nothing, only stared while Collin sped down the drive and veered onto the street.

Large drops of rain began to patter down. Gage slowly lifted his gaze from the vacant road to the sky.

What had he done? Moments ago, he was standing here alone wishing for someone to be with him, then when someone came, he drove him away. It wasn’t just anyone, though. It was the one man who he wanted to be around more than anyone else and at the same time, couldn’t bear to be with from the pain. And all that pain from things unsaid surged through him, leaving his mouth running despite wishing he could stop it.

It made him wonder if maybe this wasn’t the first time he’d driven Collin away…


The wind gusted harder. The rain increased, pelting him. Lightning flickered in the black eastern clouds and thunder rumbled. Gage felt more alone than he ever had. Considering some of the things he’d faced, that was saying a lot, but all those past threats had come from people. He could handle people. This storm…it was beyond anything he could handle and now he had to try to do it alone.

Copyright 2014 by S.J. Frost and MLR Press
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Friday, August 8, 2014

Upcoming Release - Storming Love: Gage and Collin

Howdy, everyone! Since I've been working on edits for my next story, I thought it's about time for me to share some more info on it. I mentioned this story in my previous writing update, Storming Love: Gage and Collin. The story is about 20k words, 39 or so pages. It's part of a six story compilation, in which each book is written by a different author, but all the books are connected by the authors' individual characters facing the same hurricane. It's a very cool idea and the other authors involved are fantastic!  Diana DeRicci, Kendall McKenna, Parker Williams, Kaje Harper, and Stephani Hecht...it's amazing to be in with this gang!

Each story in the compilation will have the same beautiful cover, which was designed by the extremely talented, Kris Jacen, who is also the Executive Editor at MLR Press and my editor. Having her take time out of her busy schedule to put her artistic talents to work on the cover was awesome.

And the tentative release date list for the stories goes...

September 5th - Gage and Collin - S.J. Frost
September 12th - Bradley and Mike - Stephani Hecht
September 19th - Bear and Travis - Parker Williams
September 25th - Austin and Troy - Kendall McKenna
October 3rd - Nelson and Caleb - Kaje Harper
October 10th - Doug and Neal - Diana DeRicci

In less than a month, the books will start rolling out! Very exciting!

And now, it's my pleasure to share with you all the cover for the series and introduce you to my guys, Gage and Collin!


Blurb:
As a professional rider on the NRHA circuit, Gage Chapman has known success. He’s also known discrimination. Many people didn’t want an openly gay rider competing in the sport, much less winning again and again on his champion Paint stallion, The Shaman. Wanting to get away from it all, Gage had left Utah to set up a breeding farm in North Carolina and there, he found what he’d always hoped for, a man he could love.

Collin Maddox is the town deputy with his sights set on becoming sheriff someday. He knows local attitudes wouldn’t be real pro on voting a gay sheriff into office, so he’s kept his sexuality a secret for years. For all the care he has for Gage, his secret tore them apart, leaving them both with regrets and broken hearts.

Now Hurricane Lauris is coming in fast and strong. Gage has refused to evacuate and leave his horses behind. Knowing Gage is alone, Collin goes to Gage’s farm to help him, only to find himself trapped there. Hurt, anger, and passion erupts between them. As the storm rages around them, both men wonder if this is a new beginning, or the final ending.

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Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Overdue Writing Update

Hey, folks! So, it's been a long, long, long time since I posted an update on my writing world and I apologize for that. It seems as if I poked my head up and suddenly found that the year was more than half over. Seriously, how did that happen? Where has 2014 gone? If anyone finds it, could you please send a month or two of it back to me?

The first half of the year was a busy one for me. I had three book releases:

Vampire Prince
Knight of Fire, Terra Book 2
Kissing Cody Starr

Not too bad! But I'll admit, as far as my writing schedule and what I hoped to get done this year goes, I'm behind. Personal life and work life with my day job have meant that I've had to do some re-evaluating of my writing schedule. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I had planned to slow down on writing going into 2015, anyway. I'm just doing it a little sooner than I expected.

I currently have two stories in with my publishers. The first is a novella titled Storming Love: Gage and Collin, and it's currently in edits. This story is part of a six story compilation where each story is written by a different author and follows a different couple as they face a powerful hurricane. The other authors included in this project are Diana DeRicci, Kendall McKenna, Parker Williams, Kaje Harper, and Stephani Hecht. I can't express how thrilled I am to be connected with these talented authors through this project. It's amazing and I'm honored by it. All the stories will be published through MLR Press starting in September with one releasing each week for six weeks. I'll also be sharing the blurb soon!



The second story is also a novella, this one for Ellora's Cave and tentatively titled, Heart's Gamble. It's about a horse rescuer and a racehorse trainer. I just turned this one in, so I don't have word yet on a prospective editing schedule or release date, but hopefully it'll release later this year. As I get more info on it, I'll be sure to post updates.

Right now, I'm planning on my little writing break that I've been talking about taking for so long. Just a little time to refresh and regroup before going into big novel-length projects again. And those next big projects are going to be Book 3 in the Terra series and the sequel to Vampire Prince.

And I haven't forgotten about writing a story for Brandon and Shunichi from the Conquest series, or even Tanner. They're still on my mind and I wouldn't mind working with Brandon and Shun this year, too. I'm probably still setting the bar a bit high with hoping to finish Terra 3, the sequel to Vampire Prince, and a novella with Brandon and Shun this year, but hey, nothing wrong with being ambitious ;-) Unless something unexpected comes up (sudden inspiration for another story, perhaps), those three are going to be what I'll be focusing on. Now, I just need to figure out which one to work on first!

And that's how things are looking in my little writing world! Thank you, everyone, for your patience with me when I disappear for a while and for all the support you continue to give!


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Thursday, July 17, 2014

July Reader Appreciation Day

Hello, everyone! It's almost time for another Reader Appreciation Day and Open Excerpt Day over at The Sweet Spot! Here's the official announcement for July!

                                                     *              *            *


Saturday, July 19th, is Reader Appreciation Day at The Sweet Spot, the Yahoo Group run by Sloan Parker, Jambrea Jo Jones, and me! This fun event is held on the third Saturday of every month and it's a day set aside on out group for authors of M/M Romance to say "thanks" to all the readers out there who support our writing efforts. The list of prizes donated by generous authors will be posted this Friday.



On Reader Appreciation Day (RAD), we'll post a giveaway thread throughout the day featuring a list of all prizes available in the group. Just respond to one of the giveaway threads 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 state what you'd like to donate for the July giveaway and include a link and a cover art pic. For prizes, you can donate books, gift certificates, swag, and other items. All types of prizes are welcomed! At the end of the giveaway, we will email your winner to you so you can send your prize personally. 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 in the RAD giveaway.

Reader Appreciation Day is also an Open Excerpt Day, and all authors are welcomed to post to blurbs and excerpts of their work, and of course, share any other fun news you've got going on!

Hope to see you all at The Sweet Spot!
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Friday, July 11, 2014

An Interview With Me!

Hello, ladies and gents! Wow, it's been a while since I've posted anything related to what's been going on in my writing world. My EVIL day job has been truly evil and I've been working a crazy amount of hours. But, as my boss tells me, starting this week things are going to lighten up a bit. Here's hoping!

Even though the day job has been wicked and I've been quiet, I've still been writing and doing authorly things. Fellow author, Jamie Lake, was kind enough to invite me to do an interview. Jamie asked me some fantastic questions about my books, me, and what I'm currently writing. I really enjoyed doing the interview and give my thanks to Jamie for having me!

Please do feel welcomed to stop by and check it out: http://jamielakenovels.com/2014/07/10/interview-with-author-s-j-frost/

I'm also going to dig up some time to write a blog post to post here going into some more details focused specifically on how the rest of my writing year is looking right now. Will be doing that very soon! Thank you to everyone who stops by Jamie's place and checks out the interview!
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Friday, June 20, 2014

June Reader Appreciation Day: The Prize List!



Ladies and gentlemen, Reader Appreciation Day will be held this Saturday, June 21st, at The Sweet Spot. I must apologize that I will not be able to attend this month's RAD, since I have to work my day job. Boo! I know I'll be missing out on a great time! The proof is here in this incredible prize list! This wonderful collection of prizes has been donated by all of these talented authors as their way of saying "thank you" to the readers out there. There are links with each prize listed, so just click on those to learn more about each book or author!











Sloan, Jambrea, and I give our thank to all of these fantastic authors for their generosity. We appreciate you joining with us in showing appreciation to readers!

Any author who would still like to donate a prize is welcomed to. All you have to do is send out an email to: thesweetspotmm@gmail.com  Please state what you'd like to donate for the June giveaway, include a link to your work and a cover art pic. Reader Appreciation Day is also an Open Excerpt Day, so all M/M authors are invited to stop by the Yahoo group, share excerpts and your latest news!

Readers, be sure you swing by too and see what some of your favorite authors got going on! We put on this day all for you!

The prize list will be posted throughout the day at The Sweet Spot Yahoo group, starting at 8:00 am EST. To enter in the giveaway, all you have to do is reply to one of the Giveaway emails. Reader Appreciation Day wraps up about 8:00 pm EST, with the winners announced shortly thereafter. Authors who have donated a prize will be contacted after the giveaway closes with their winner's information so you can send your prize personally. To enter in the giveaway, just reply to any of the giveaway threads on the group.

Hope to see everyone tomorrow at The Sweet Spot!
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