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.

Birthday and Conquest Anniversary Giveaway!

Hey, ladies and gents! I know right now a huge number of the M/M community is partying it up in Albuquerque for the GayRom Lit convention, and many giveaways are going on there and free books handed out, but I wanted to hold my own little giveaway for my birthday and the three year anniversary of my first novel, CONQUEST. I'm not at GRL this year. I decided to pass since I wanted spend my birthday with my little guy, and even had I gone, I would've left early to come home to be with him :-)

So for my little giveaway, I'm offering up a free book, winner's choice of title and format. I was originally just going to give away print format, but I thought that wouldn't be fair in case the winner would prefer ebook. If the winner does pick print, I'll sign the book, if you'd like. To enter the giveaway, just leave a comment on this post! Please include an email address where I'll be able to contact you. And if for any reason you have trouble leaving a comment, you can also message me your entry on Facebook, tell me on Twitter, or email me at s.j.frost3@gmail.com  I'll run the giveaway from October 19th through the 21st, and announce the winner on the 22nd.

And if you'd like to know my backlist and what books are available in what formats, here you go. I do have other stories besides these, but they're free reads or included in anthologies:

Conquest - available in print and all ebook formats.
No Fear - available in print and all ebook formats.
Keys to Love - available in print and all ebook formats.
Finding a Dream - available in ebook only.
Black Heart Down - available in print and all ebook formats.
Beautiful Harmony - available in ebook only.
Heartstrings - available in print and all ebook formats.
Natural Instincts - available in print and all ebook formats.
Enduring Instincts - available in print and all ebook formats.
Loving Instincts - available in print and all ebook formats.

It's hard to believe that three years ago in 2009, on my birthday, October 21st, CONQUEST went live and everyone was introduced to up and coming rock star, Jesse Alexander, famed singer, Evan Arden, and their love for each other. It was a long road to bring their story to that point. I had started writing CONQUEST back in 2005, during my last year in college at the University of Toledo. But saying I graduated in 2005 makes me sound younger than I am. I had actually taken a few years off to work, then went back to finish my Bachelor's degree in English with an emphasis in Creative Writing. It was during that last year in school when Jesse came to me.

In one of my last creative writing classes, the professor gave an assignment for a dialogue exercise, but we couldn't use characters or a story line we'd already used in class. After class let out, I was walking across campus, mentally complaining about the assignment because I didn't know what the hell I was going to write about. That's when he showed up.

Jesse burst to the front of my mind with so much force, I literally stopped walking. In my mind's eye, I could see him more clearly, more vividly, than any character I'd ever worked with. I asked what his name was, and the name Jesse floated back to me. He said he had something to say, and everything started unfolding.

For my assignment, I wrote what would eventually become part of CONQUEST's first chapter, where Jesse's brother, Brandon, takes Jesse to the diner, and they talk about life and music. The story, as many of you know, was far from over. Even after I turned the assignment in, I kept writing, and writing, and writing. I didn't know what would come of the story. All I knew was I was driven to write it. And through it all, Jesse and Evan stayed strong and clear in my mind. When I did get my assignment back, my professor looked at me and said, "This is your best work."

With Jesse feeling pretty proud of himself and my young writer confidence boosted, I kept working on CONQUEST, and when I finished, went directly into NO FEAR. It took a few years of courage building before I sought a publisher, but in early 2009 I was sent that coveted acceptance letter by MLR Press.

CONQUEST has come a long way in that time. It's been voted for in many reader favorite awards and polls, was a finalist in the Epic Ebook Awards, and has earned several wonderful reviews. From it came an entire series, which still blows my mind. Back in those days as a new author, my biggest hope was to see it and NO FEAR published. That was all. I never imagined that three years later, I would be getting the seventh book in the series ready to go live and I would have an entirely different series focused around vampires. There are times when it still feels dreamlike. But I can say without a doubt, every book I've written has been thanks to Jesse and Evan. They started it all and gave me the confidence to continue.

And to you, my dear readers, thank you so incredibly much for being a part of my journey over the past three years. I can't express my gratitude enough for the time you take to read my words and share in my characters lives. For what you give to me in doing that, I'll continue to the best of my ability to give you a good reading experience with every book I write.

Thanks to everyone who's stopped by! Good luck in the giveaway!

Reviews, Reviews, Reviews!

Hello, everyone!  I'm working on getting caught up on a lot of writing business today, and part of that is sharing with all of you some fantastic reviews I've gotten lately.  Just recently on Fallen Angel Reviews, four of my Conquest books, CONQUEST, NO FEAR, KEYS TO LOVE, and BLACK HEART DOWN, were all reviewed.  Each of the received 5 out of 5 angels, and earned being Recommended Reads.  Woo hoo!  Thank you so much to the reviewer, Teresa, for taking the time to read the books and write up such wonderful reviews!  For any who would like to see the reviews, here are the links:

CONQUEST: http://fallenangelreviews.com/2011/June/teresa-conquest.htm
NO FEAR: http://fallenangelreviews.com/2011/June/teresa-nofear.htm
KEYS TO LOVE: http://fallenangelreviews.com/2011/June/teresa-keystolove.htm
BLACK HEART DOWN: http://fallenangelreviews.com/2011/June/teresa-blackheartdown.htm

Fallen Angel Reviews is a fantastic review site overall and well worth checking out for other well written reviews.

Also, I happened to see that my m/m vampire novel, NATURAL INSTINCTS, was reviewed at Top2Bottom Reviews, along with BLACK HEART DOWN.  Both got wonderful reviews with NATURAL INSTINCTS earning a mark of 5 out of 5, and BHD receiving 4.5 out of 5.  Many thanks to the reviewers there, Michele and Lisa, for reading the books and writing up these great reviews!  Here are the links to those:

NATURAL INSTINCTS: http://top2bottomreviews.wordpress.com/2011/05/13/natural-instincts-by-s-j-frost/
BLACK HEART DOWN: http://top2bottomreviews.wordpress.com/2011/05/31/black-heart-down-by-s-j-frost/

Top2Bottom Reviews is another awesome review site, focused especially toward gay romance.  So if m/m is what you mainly like to read, definitely be sure to check them out for the dish on hot books in the genre.

I guess that about covers it in review news for me.  And can I just say one more time...Woo hoo!  I'm just so incredibly happy with these reviews and grateful to all the reviewers who wrote them.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!

CONQUEST is an EPIC Awards finalist!!

Last night, I received an email that still has me spinning, bouncing, and happy dancing.  My m/m rock star novel, CONQUEST, is a finalist for the 2011 EPIC ebook Awards Competition™!  The Eppies are one of the largest and most prestigious awards a book in ebook format can receive.  To final is an honor beyond honor.  I keep going back to the email, thinking I must have dreamed it, but every time the email is still there and the words are still the same, CONQUEST is a finalist.  Ecstatic doesn't even begin to cover how excited I am about this!  Winners will be announced in March 2011 at a ceremony in Williamsburg, Virginia.

But you know, Conquest didn't get to this point alone.  It's all thanks to the support of my readers, the hours of hard work from my editor, my publisher's faith in me, and the judges who took their time to read it.  And of course, I can't let my main character, Jesse Alexander, get away without a thank you.  It's his story after all, and I'm grateful to have been able to tell it.  Thank you, so very much, to everyone who has helped me achieve this honor!

Birthday/Anniversary Giveaway!

Today is a special day for me.  It's the day I was born!  Yay!  I'm really happy about that ;)  But it's also a special day for a second reason.  One year ago today, my debut novel, CONQUEST, went live!  With those two things happening on one date, how can I not want to celebrate?

This past year has been a wild ride with CONQUEST and my other novels getting published.  So many people have welcomed me and my books with kindness and friendship, and I'll always be grateful for that.  And though these words seem small in comparison to what others have done in taking their time to read my stories, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

To celebrate my birthday and CONQUEST's one year anniversary, I'd like to offer a giveaway.  One lucky person will have the chance to win a set of all Conquest novels in print or ebook, winner's choice.  If the winner chooses print, I will sign all three copies.  To enter the contest, just comment on this post that you'd like to be put in the running.  If you comment as "anonymous", please put your name or another way I can identify you in case you win.  Or since I know blogs can be finicky about letting comments post, you can also email me at s.j.frost3@gmail.com.  Just put "contest" or "giveaway" in the subject.  To give everyone in different timezones a chance, I'll accept entries up until 12:00 pm Eastern U.S. time on October 23rd.  I'll also announce the winner that same Saturday. 

And now, let the party begin!  Good luck to all who enter!

Happy birthday, Jesse!

Today is October 7th, the birthday of Jesse Alexander, singer extraordinaire and main character in my novels, CONQUEST and NO FEAR.  It's mentioned in CONQUEST the 7th is his birthday, and since writing the story, whenever this day comes around, I always have to tell him happy birthday.  Is it a little kooky of me?  Maybe.  But I make no secret that Jesse is very special to me and I give him credit for making me a published author.

So, happy birthday, dear Jesse.   And don't worry, I'll leave singing the "Happy Birthday Song" to Evan.  I know you'll like that much better than my off key screeching ;-)