HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Wishing you all a Joyous and Prosperous New Year, and may it be better than 2022.

Stuff Your E-Reader Day

For today only, June 23, 2022, you can download loads of free ebooks based on the types of books you like to read. I’ve already downloaded scores of LGBTQ+ books for my Kindle.

First choose your preferred device to read on. That will link you to the ebooks available for download. From there choose the genre/category of books you’d like to download. It’s easy. And now here is the link:

https://www.romancebookworms.com/

Enjoy!

Depositphoto Deal

AppSumo is back again with a terrific Depositphoto deal. Buy one of the AppSumo packages at a huge discount if you purchase a lot of stock photos. There is no expiration date on when you have to use up finish collecting the deal once you’ve bought it. There’s about 16 hours left to claim this deal at the time of this posting. Go snap it up!

https://appsumo.com/products/depositphotos/?fbclid=IwAR15WNao67wm5cHiEXzTC6Byu2Jj6tUcfniLxAMYs8K4zEjA-wWf5MQj-pg

Happy Mabon

I love Autumn. Winter is my favorite time of year, but Autumn comes a close second. Today is the first day of Autumn here in the Northern Hemisphere. It’s time for leaves to turn brilliant reds, golds, oranges, and yellows as the light starts to slip away. The pumpkin patches will appear, and if people haven’t found their Halloween costumes yet, they’ll likely start with October just around the corner. For me, that means changing the header and background of this blog,

Happy Mabon!

An Interview with Ari McKay and Rachel Langella

As promised in my last blog post, today I have an interview with the author team, Ari McKay and Rachel Langella. On April 1st, their new book, Stop Dragon My Heart Around, will be released. I’ve almost finished reading it and can say it’s a great addition to their collaboration that’s set in the same world as the ‘Asheville Arcana’ series. So without further ado, let’s hear from the authors about Stop Dragon My Heart Around.

*******

Hello, Ari and Rachel. Welcome to my blog. I’ve been a fan of your books for quite a while now and have read many of them. I especially enjoyed the ‘Asheville Arcana’ series, which is set in Asheville, where Stop Dragon My Heart Around is also set. Let’s get started with some questions about your new book.

KC: Stop Dragon My Heart Around is part of the new series the ‘Magic Emporium’, which is composed of twelve books by twelve different authors. How did you learn about the collaboration and what made you decide to participate?

A&R: Meghan Maslow, who developed the Magic Emporium story and the idea for the series, approached us in 2020 about participating. We were thrilled! Meghan is a good friend and we were honored that she invited us to be included among so many distinguished authors!

KC: What is the Magic Emporium’s overarching theme or how do all the books tie in together other than through magic?

A&R: Each book in the series is unique and different, with ideas as varied as the authors who wrote them. The only common element among them is the appearance of Marden’s Magical Emporium, and the use of the item called the “Save-Me Sack”, which provides the one item that will be most important to the characters in the story – even if they don’t realize it at the time! Meghan first came up with idea for her short story “In Fair Verona”, and it makes an appearance in each of the books in the series.

KC: The characters in your book are part of one of your other series titled, ‘Asheville Arcana’. I’ve read this series and really enjoyed it. What made you decide to write a book for the ‘Magic Emporium’ based on ‘Asheville Arcana’ rather than starting with a new series?

A&R: Almost any author can tell you that developing your own fantasy setting is a LOT of work, and when we were invited to participate, we did, at first, think about making up an entirely new fantasy setting. But honestly, we’d already considered writing Bear and Gus as a couple before the opportunity for the Magic Emporium series came up, so after making sure that Meghan had no problem with it, we decided to go ahead and tell Bear’s and Gus’s story in the ME framework. We think it worked really well, and since the story was always meant to be a stand alone piece and not tied into the whole Cauldron of Rebirth story line, this seemed be a perfect opportunity for it.

KC: Tell us about how you came up with the plot and the process you went through to get it all down on paper.

A&R: The plot is something we’d been sort of poking at for a while. Gus, who was introduced in the first Asheville Arcana story, Out of the Ashes, was always meant to be that “mysterious figure” that no one knew much about. Sure, he’d been there as long as anyone could remember, and we knew he had a secret, but we hadn’t fleshed that out until Rachel got the idea to tell the story of Whimsy’s kid brother, the mage. It seemed like a match made to be, with the snarky young mage and the ancient no-one-knows-what. We are pantsers of the first order, so we usually just start writing, and the plot kind of develops organically during the process. We write very linearly (“Start at the beginning, and when you come to the end, stop” as the Mad Hatter would say). As we need elements, we can go back and find the proper place to insert them, but the story can change literally as we go along. Originally, for instance, Bear was going to be the one to go to the Emporium and be given something that he thought was a lump of quartz, but was in actuality a massive raw diamond. Gus was going to use this diamond to fuel his breath weapon, but as we developed Cassian, the villain, we had much more interesting ideas pop up!

KC: How did you decide who would write each character? Or were Gus and Bear a blending of ideas on what you both thought their behavior should be like?

A&R: Since we actually started out as roleplaying game partners (writing Snape and Lupin in a Hogwarts fantasy RP), our writing style has always been for one of us to write one character and one write the other. Once we figure out who will write whom (in this case, Rachel, who wrote Whimsy, was the natural one to write his little brother since she is the one who “invented” him in the first place as part of Whimsy’s backstory), we decide on traits and then just “play” the characters. Often we do what we call “taking dictation” because characters develop their own voices and THEY tell US how the story is going to go. 😀 Of course this has also failed a time or two (not in this story, thankfully!) but most of the time we’re very much in sync as to what traits appeal to each character and what traits they in turn will exhibit. When you’ve been writing together for almost 17 years the way we have, it has just become a habit.

KC: Who decided on the title for your book, because it’s quirky and fun and it caught my attention; I also love the cover, who is the cover artist?

A&R: Thank you! Ari came up with the title (and it is a riff on the Stevie Nicks song, of course!). The cover artist is Alexandria Corza, and the artwork itself was done for us by Dianne Thies at Lyrical Lines.

KC: The ending of Stop Dragon My Heart Around isn’t a cliff-hanger, but it leaves the series open to continue. Do you have a set number of books you’re thinking for this series? Or are you just going to continue until you feel it’s the right time to end the series? I must be honest; I hope there will be many more books to come.

A&R: We’re so happy you are enjoying our little universe! We do indeed plan more stories, and that’s why we didn’t hesitate to give Asheville a literal cast of thousands. There are loads of characters that showed up in the first three books who need their stories told! There’s Earl, the Beta of Tharn’s werewolf pack, not to mention several of the other werewolves in that pack and Eli’s pack. Then we have Estelon the vampire (who Julian despises and refers to as “Twinkle Toes” in Forged in Fire), an entire coven of witches (of whom we’ve only touched on Brianna Winddaughter), as well as all the elves we’ve mentioned who live in Cherokee National Forest. There definitely is room for a lot more stories, as well as a lot more danger! We never plan “how many” in advance – there are as many stories as there are ideas in our heads, it’s just getting them written!

KC: Two final questions. What are you working on now that Stop Dragon My Heart Around is finished, and what do you have planned after that?

A&R: We haven’t made firm plans for the next story, but we have several stories we’ve started and are planning to revisit now that Dragon is finished. There’s a series called Elemental Sins that we’ve roughed out, which will feature five stories about elementals – Fire, Water, Earth, Air, and Spirit. Then we’ve got a series of what we are calling “creepy cozy mysteries” that are less romance based and will center around a single female couple and the things that are happening to them as they solve a series of mysteries. The first book is called “A Murder of Crows”. Then there is the series we were working on under the Ari McKay imprint, which is called Fortress and is sort of an extension of the Herc’s Mercs series, but more international in scope. The first story “A Prince Among Men” is about 75% finished and it is VERY action/adventure based. So fingers crossed that some of these will be releasing in the near future!!

KC: Thanks, Ari and Rachel for the visit. I hope readers will check out Stop Dragon My Heart Around. I’m currently reading it and am enjoying it quite a bit.

A&R: Thank YOU for having us!!! ❤

ABOUT THE BOOK

Author: Rachel Langella
Publisher: Self-published
Genre: M/M Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance
Page Count: 196 pages (print edition)
ISBN: 979-8727952986
ASIN: B08RZ8TLCX
Series: Magic Emporium (Asheville Arcana universe)

AVAILABLE AT:

Amazon: Stop Dragon My Heart Around

BLURB:

Sometimes Fate has a bizarre sense of humor.

Or at least it seems that way to Gus, owner of the Rainbow Room, Asheville’s main hangout for gay paranormals. He’s seen Fate catch up with the patrons of his bar while he served drinks and listened to their stories for three hundred years. He found all of it amusing, until his fated mate walks in and suddenly the twists aren’t so funny any longer!

Bear Hickes is a mage who specializes in fire, but life has lost its spark since his twin brother got married and left him alone. His older brother, Whimsy, is determined to help Bear find happiness no matter how much Bear objects, but meeting Gus gives Bear a wonderful idea: if Gus will pretend to be his boyfriend, Whimsy will get off his case. And somewhere along the line, Bear finds he wants it to be for real.

But there are secrets Gus is keeping from not just Bear, but the whole world. And when those secrets catch up with him at last, the danger won’t be just for Gus alone.

FIND THE AUTHORS AT:

Web: http://arimckay.com

Amazon:

Ari McKay

Rachel Langella

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/ari.mckay.7

And

https://www.facebook.com/rachel.langella.9

Twitter:

@AriMcKay1

And

@LangellaRachel

Spring Has Sprung!

Spring is here and it’s time for the blog to get a new banner and background.

A quick run-down on what I’ve been doing. In terms of writing, I’ve mostly been reviewing ARCs, betaing and doing some more editing on Top Floor. Over the past four years I haven’t felt motivated to write or edit much, but now that things are looking up in the United States, I find my creative ideas flowing again.

I hope to be posting more frequently here on the blog, if not to promote my own books, to at least promote other authors, which is something I enjoy doing. The interviews are always fun for me. Saying that, I’ll have a short interview with Ari McKay coming up this weekend. As usual, I try and get the interviews posted on Sundays, so keep an eye out for it then.

Until then, enjoy your Spring!

Happy New Year!

It’s not quite New Year’s here yet where I live, but it can’t arrive soon enough. If 2020 was a book, it would rate half a star. It was the dumpster fire of all the previous three years of dumpster fires.

I’m wishing you all a better and brighter 2021. Stay safe, stay healthy.

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

I hope all of you are having a wonderful Christmas and for those of you far in the future in another time zone, I hope your Christmas was a good one. This year may not be the typical Christmas that we are accustomed to, but it gives us opportunity to think outside the box and imagine new ways to keep the Spirit of Christmas alive. May the rest of the year bring you unique ways of looking at the world, and ways to find new ideas to make your life more enjoyable.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

A Follow-up Interview with Candi Kay

The Winter Solstice has arrived and Christmas is only a few days away. Around this time of year, I binge read loads of Holiday books. Some of my favorites are from the series, Willy the Kinky Elf and his Bad-Ass Reindeer by Candi Kay. Last year I interviewed Candi about the series and she mentioned the last book in the series was to be released this year. Well it has, and it’s called, Santa and His Unexpected Mate. Candi is back to talk about the final book and what’s ahead for Willy and the rest of the gang.

Welcome back, Candi!

*****

Thank you so much K.C. Faelan for inviting me to stop by to talk about Santa Claus & His Unexpected Mate, the final book in the Willy the Kinky Elf & His Bad-Ass Reindeer series.

Writing Santa and Drew’s story was bittersweet because it’s the finale of a crazy ride that I never planned to go on. The first Willy book was written for a submission call for a (now defunct) publisher who never got back to me. I pulled the story from consideration and self-published it. When I wrote Willy the Kinky Elf & His Bad-Ass Reindeer (#1) there was never any plan to make it a series. I honestly didn’t expect five people to read it because my version of the North Pole is a bit different from what you see in fairy tales.

Okay, a lot different, as is my sense of humor.

Santa Claus was never meant to have his own book. He was written as a bad guy and was supposed to stay that way until the very end. That changed while I was writing Dylan the Bad Boy Reindeer & His Virtuous Mate (#5). A reader (Dre, who Andrea was named after) said he needed his story told. I kind of laughed it off because how in the world would I make him a good guy? And then I was reminded that I managed to do it with Blake Simpson, so why not Santa? The thought stuck and a lot of the book was written before Luke the Hybrid Reindeer & His Vivacious Elf (#6) was finished last year. Once the idea took hold, I was all in.

The one thing I couldn’t figure out for a long time was who Santa’s love interest would be. It took me a while to settle on Andrew Lanzer but only because Drew belonged to someone else. Drew was originally written as Andrea’s love interest. I had literally finished Luke’s book and had to go back in and rewrite almost every page mentioning Drew because Santa kept saying, “He’s mine.”

Can’t argue with the big man. 😉

It was worth the extra work because I seriously love Santa and Drew together. Drew is an absolute sweetheart who shows Santa that he’s not the bad man his soon-to-be-ex convinced him he was. He just needed to find his way.

Nothing ever really goes as planned in any of my books. I can be determined to go one way but that goes out the window not long into it. I just let the stories tell themselves. The one thing that didn’t change was Dylan Drake. I won’t type a spoiler for those who don’t know how Dylan is connected to Santa, but I will say that once I figured Dylan out, everything else clicked into place.

Santa Claus & His Unexpected Mate has the classic Willy the elf shenanigans, but it also has a lot of serious moments. Santa’s not used to being included, to being wanted for any reason other than for what he can do for people. Between Dylan and Drew, he’s brought into a whole new world, one he never dreamed he could have. He has friends, family, a mate he’d always been told he couldn’t have, and he’s finally found the courage to eliminate the Mary Claus issue once and for all.

Mrs. Claus is allowed to come back to the North Pole after a two-year absence. The plan is to allow her back just long enough for a divorce to happen and then she’ll be gone again. Mary has always been evil, but nothing she’s done up to now compares to how she is when she comes back to the North Pole and discovers that she no longer has any control. Throw in a few pranks by Willy and she’s in for a pretty miserable experience.

Typing THE END on this book was pretty emotional. I know these guys – the way they look, the sounds of their voices, and their stories. I’ve watched them all come to life over the past six-plus years and they feel like part of my extended family. But I also know when it’s time to say goodbye. I may have typed THE END on the series, but I can’t quite picture Willy disappearing. The elf hasn’t shut up in my head since he popped in back in 2014. He is by far the most fun (and often annoying) character I’ve ever written. Readers either hate Willy or they love Willy. I don’t think there’s much of an in-between. So, while I may have given everyone their happily-ever-after, expect a few short stories in the coming years with updates from Willy and the rest of the North Pole gang.

Thank you again to K.C. Faelan for asking me to stop by to discuss Willy and his friends and to tell a little bit about the final installment of the series. I hope everybody has an amazing holiday season and the best new year. I think I speak for a lot of folks when I say that 2020 can’t end fast enough. Here’s hoping for a great 2021.

~Candi

ABOUT THE BOOK

Author: Candi Kay
Published: November 1, 2020
Length: Approximately 114,000 words, 332 pages
ISBN: 9781393887461
ASIN: B08HSPQP98
Genre: Gay Romance, Christmas, Santa Claus, Reindeer Shifters, Elves, Humor, Paranormal
Series: Willy the Kinky Elf & His Bad-Ass Reindeer

Available at: Universal link – books2read.com/SantaClausandHisUnexpectedMate

BLURB:

From the World of Willy the Kinky Elf & His Bad-Ass Reindeer.

The North Pole isn’t exactly as it appears in fairy tales. It has the elves and Santa and his reindeer, but Santa and Mrs. Claus aren’t the jolly couple the world believes them to be. The reindeer are all shape-shifters who transform into gorgeous beings in human form and are respected by all.

Santa Claus has everything except the one thing he craves most – a mate of his own. Forever told it wasn’t in the cards for him, he goes about his days longing for something he knows he can never have. Maybe Andrew Lanzer isn’t his fated mate, but he knows what he feels for the reindeer goes far beyond simple attraction.

Drew sees how Santa looks at him, but he’s not stupid. Santa’s wife may be gone now, but history has proven she’ll be back. Time and again. He’s hoping one sexual encounter will be enough to get him out of his system. What he doesn’t expect is for it to open the door to so much more.

When Mary Claus demands to be heard, the entire North Pole is thrown into chaos. With the man he loves and his newfound son by his side, Santa must fight harder than he’s ever fought before to rid the North Pole of her conniving presence once and for all. Along the way, he may even discover that what the Fates have always led him to believe might not be true after all. With help from Willy the elf and a few new allies, Santa Claus may finally get the happily-ever-after he’s only ever dreamed of.

Santa Claus & His Unexpected Mate cannot be read as a standalone. The finale of the Willy the Kinky Elf & His Bad-Ass Reindeer series, it contains characters and stories from each book that will be confusing to readers who have not read the series.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Candi Kay

A blogger by day, at night Candi Kay transforms into a writer of various genres, with an emphasis on LGBTQ and erotica. Author of the Willy the Kinky Elf & His Bad-Ass Reindeer series, Candi’s books are often filled with humor, lovable, kooky characters, and sweet happily-ever-afters.

You can find Candi on Facebook – Twitter – her blog – Queeromance Ink – BookBub – Goodreads – or email her at CandiKayAuthor@gmail.com. She loves hearing from readers!

Happy Winter Solstice

Winter is my favorite season. The weeks starting from Halloween, and especially from the Solstice to Christmas is for me, the best time of all. There is something magical, not just because of the holiday lights and celebrations, but of a sense of hope and new beginnings. Of letting our imaginations fly up into the night skies filled with stars, where anything is possible.

Speaking of stars, tonight is the Grand Conjunction, where Saturn and Jupiter are the closest they have been to our eyes in 397 years. If your skies are clear tonight, don’t forget to head outside and find the two giants in the sky.

Here’s wishing you all a Happy Winter Solstice and Blessed Yule.