Holding Together available for pre-order

Available for pre-order: http://www.total-e-bound.com/product.asp?strParents&CAT_ID&P_ID=2213 

Book Two in the The Arches series.

Darius is bored until his boyfriend, Luca, makes him work at The Arches. Then Luca is taken ill. Can Darius hold the gym and their relationship together?

Darius barely sees his boyfriend. Luca is working all hours at The Arches gym, and Darius goes out clubbing most evenings to relieve the boredom. He’s really tempted to play with other bears at the club.

Then Luca makes Darius work at The Arches to give him something to do. Cleaning! Darius is not impressed, especially when some of the gym staff are hostile to him. He sticks it out, and to his surprise starts to enjoy the work. Luca loves having him around and makes sure he knows—in true Luca style.

Darius is not prepared when Luca is taken ill. Darius finds himself having to support his boyfriend and keep The Arches running. He gets more tired as time goes on, and it doesn’t help that his love-life is suffering. It seems the illness has had a greater effect on Luca than either of them anticipated.

Can Darius show his bear that nothing has changed—he is still the man Darius loves?

Reissue of the Fitzwarren Inheritance

Promotion for this week

Last week Chris Quinton, R.J.Scott and myself got the rights back to the Fitzwarren Inheritance, and we have reissued the books with shiny new covers designed by Meredith Russell. 

#1 The Psychic's Tale by Chris Quinton

"I curse you and your children's children, that you shall all live out your allotted years, and that those years shall be filled with grief and loss and betrayal, even as you have betrayed and bereaved me."
Four hundred years ago in rural England, a mob burned two men to death, but not before one of them, Jonathan Curtess, hurled a dreadful curse at the mob's leader, Sir Belvedere Fitzwarren. The curse has followed the family through the centuries, bringing grief and loss to each generation.
Mark Renfrew is a closeted psychic and openly gay. When his grandmother discovers a family link to a 17th century feud and a still-potent curse, she insists he investigates and do his best to end it. When he travels to the village of Steeple Westford, he meets and falls for Jack Faulkner, an archaeologist. He also meets the Fitzwarrens, who are facing yet another tragedy.
Then Mark learns that the man who cursed them had twisted the knife by leaving three cryptic conditions that would lift the curse, and he knows he has to try to break the curse his ancestor had set.

#2 The Soldier's Tale by Rj Scott

Corporal Daniel Francis has returned to his childhood home in England to heal; the only one of his unit that survived a roadside bomb. His reasons for skipping medication are based on a stubborn refusal to become an addict, and he is overwhelmed with survivor's guilt.

Doctor Sean Lester has joined his father's surgery and when he is held at knife point by a patient high on drugs it is Daniel that leaps to his rescue-much to his horror. 

When Sean nearly runs Daniel down in the dark he finds a man who needs help, and resolves to be the person to show Daniel that it is possible to live through guilt and find happiness.

Set against the backdrop of the Fitzwarren family curse, The Soldiers Tale is a story of one man's fight to find his place in a new world outside of the Army.

Will Daniel and Sean fill the second of three cryptic conditions that can lift the curse?

#3 The Lord's Tale by Sue Brown

Phil Fitzwarren is surrounded by death and tragedy as a result of the curse imposed on his family by Jonathan Curtess. The estate is riddled with debt, his parents and brother killed and his young nephew and much-wanted heir to what is left of the Fitzwarren estate fights for his life after being born prematurely. 

Since the arrival of Mark Renfrew, a psychic descendent of Curtess, and Daniel, a soldier suffering from PTSD, breaking two of the cryptic conditions of the curse, Phil feels his life is being overtaken by events out of his control. 

Phil also has to admit that as his friends and family pair off and marry, he is lonely, and maybe a little jealous. He takes his anger and frustration out on the climbing wall, only to be picked up by a gorgeous guy when he freezes twenty feet up. 

Lee Curtis is a force of nature, inserting himself into Phil’s life before Phil has time to breathe. But there is the third part of the curse to break, “when the one who seeks in danger is sworn to the landless lord”. Phil realises that Lee is the final piece of the puzzle and the curse which has plagued his family for centuries may finally be broken.

When Comedians Miss the Point

I am the first to admit that humour is completely subjective and I often find that when people around me are laughing it passes me by. I love dry wit rather than slapstick, humour that can dissect an action for the absurdity it is, rather than maliciously aiming the humour at the person who did the action. Humour that is supposed to make me cringe, does not make me laugh.

I am also British and love Friday Night comedy on BBC Radio 4. That places me in age and culture. For instance, humour I love are Have I got News for You and Mock the Week, the awesome humour of TV programmes like West Wing. I cringe without enjoyment at programmes old and new like Fawlty Towers, knowing I am in a minority, and rarely enjoy films by Adam Sandler, Jim Carrey or Will Ferrell. However I can appreciate that other people don't have my taste. I don't watch what doesn't make me laugh, and I'm sure you don't either.

On Twitter this morning I found an internet maelstrom surrounding Lindy West on her appearance on  FX's Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell, discussing rape jokes with comedian, Jim Norton. I am not going to repeat everything that she has been through but safe to say  it concerns death threats, rape threats and misogyny from the twitter trolls. For example:

They are some of the least offensive comments. Read the article. You'll get the picture. Agree with her, don't agree with her, that's up to you. I listened to a rebuttal of both her and the trolling by Jim Norton here. I gave up partway through, because he and the interviewer both had the same patronising attitude towards women and rape jokes. And no, I didn't find the punchline about gang rape funny. 

I love Mock the Week, a British topical comedy programme. It features comedians taking the piss out of politics. I love it and even the repeats are funny. One day, I'm giggling along and suddenly the humour changed. One of the men made a joke against women, the others joined in, and it went from funny to a bunch of middle-aged, white men attacking women. Like that, they lost me and I switched off.

This week, BBC 5Live found itself in trouble for comments made on a show called Fighting Talk about Clare Balding, a lesbian sports presenter who is now one of our national treasures. The fact she is a lesbian is irrelevant until this happens...

"As part of a round on the BBC Radio 5 Live show 'Fighting Talk', Colin Murray, the show's presenter, asked a contestant to argue that they could 'cure' the award-winning sports commentator of lesbianism.

The programme also asked guests to debate whether Balding should present horse racing shows topless.

The controversial broadcast came during the final segment of the show in which guests are asked to 'defend the indefensible' and argue a difficult-to-support case.

Comedian Bob Mills responded to the challenge by saying that Balding was a "horse woman", who "appreciates power between her thighs", before adding: "And we all know, there is no woman that can't be cured."" The Independent 3/06/2013

Jim Norton and Bob Mills, and others like them believe that comedians should not be censored.I have heard this before and it has taken me a while to come to the conclusion that perhaps comedians need to censor themselves.

I cannot get my head around rape being funny, forced conversion being funny, demeaning women as funny. Before you cry 'double standard' I feel the same way about men. Attack a man for his actions, but would sexual assault on a guy be a good punchline? Would reparative therapy make a good joke? By all means have a go at female politicians for double standards and male politicians for their misogyny. But don't suggest that gang-raping a woman because you're annoyed with her is a good punchline. Surely the Steubenville High School rape case has shown that lack of respect for women is something taught from an early age. 

Comedy has moved on, or at least I thought it had. Maybe it hasn't and I'm just kidding myself. The old mother-in-law and blonde bimbo jokes have just been refined to something more sinister. But that's okay, it's only humour...?

Sue's Summertime

Coming in June

It's the start of June and I have three months with books coming out, so I'm taking the opportunity to write three longer books. The Year of the Drouth (in the Morning Report world), No Man Down (number one in a military-based series), and an MF book, Riding Matt.

Holding Together
Preorder: 14th June
Prerelease: 28th June
General release: 26th July

I've been decorating my son's bedroom so I've had a week without my doggies, and now they're snoozing next to me. It's rather nice to have them back. I love the way they just stretch out next to me, totally relaxed.

I'm following the same-sex marriage bill debate this week in the House of Lords. This is where the bill will see most of the opposition. The 'Traditionalists' live here, after all. There is a vigil outside the Lords tomorrow (Monday 3rd June).



I've read a few lovely books recently; Racing for the Sun by Amy Lane, Levi by Bailey Bradford, and Who Moved My Holepunch by Anne Brooke. All different and totally engaging. 

Brandon Shire: The Parallels of Homeless LGBT Youth

“Empathy is not enough. We need a collective strategy to approach and conquer homelessness among gay youth.”

Heard the above before? Me too. A collective strategy is meeting-speak for ‘let’s use resources to think about the problem and we’ll get back to you’. Or better, from the public’s perspective it makes the problem someone else’s — some mystical entity which is going to finally solve the evils of drug dependency, emotional and physical abuse, mental illness, and homophobia all in one fell swoop.

You don’t need a collective strategy to take a kid off the street, you need a collective strategy to combat the reasons s/he’s there in the first place, but homeless organizations by their nature are not set up, or designed, to fight the root causes of homelessness, particularly LGBT youth homelessness. They are designed to work with the results of those causes, and the results of youth homelessness are the same no matter what country you live in.

Pick a city, any city on the planet. The video below, taken by Lost-n-Found (an Atlanta based nonprofit working with homeless LGBT youth) will show you how homeless youth are living, if they are actually lucky enough to find an abandoned building. This same organization finds homeless kids sleeping under bridges, behind dumpsters, in tents, on street grates, or any other place the kids can squeeze their bodies.

So what is a homeless youth program looking at when a kid walks in the door? Usually the first things are food, clothing, toiletries, and maybe a shower. But what the staff is really working against is:

-          Fear

-          A feeling of helplessness

-           A strong belief that everyone has given up on you

-          Shame

A collective strategy isn’t going to help this kid. We need people who care enough to make a small difference, and of course, we need resources.  OOPs, did I say the wrong word? Did your wallet just cinch shut? Resources mean more than money. Resources are socks and underwear, a pillow, a tent, a few hours of time, a few cans of food, a couch for the night, maybe a spare bedroom for a host home program. Sometimes the biggest resource people working with homeless LGBT youth lack is hope. Ironic, isn’t it?

The kids just keep coming, the hate-filled parents keep tossing them into the street, and the resources keep dwindling away because people have lost the understanding that it only takes one person to make a difference in the life of one homeless queer kid. Just one.

Are you that person?

Make a difference, get involved.

Organizations working with LGBT Youth

Award winning writer BRANDON SHIRE is a distinct voice in contemporary gay fiction. Ten percent of the proceeds from the sale of any of Brandon’s books are donated to LGBT Youth charities combating homelessness.

Summer Round-Up

Afternoon my lovelies, 

I haven't done a round up for a while, so I thought it was time I told you about Sue's world. 

We'll start with professional Sue. Bob, the Destroyer of Leads, the follow up to Hairy Harry's Car Seat, is now available on Amazon and All Romance eBooks. Harry is half price on Amazon until 31st May.

Let me introduce you to another sequel. Peter is finally ready to face getting another puppy after the loss of his beloved Harry. I have been very lucky that Chris Quinton has donated both plot bunny and puppy for the story. 

The Phantom Boot Fang of South London (coming July 2013), and introducing Hazel.

Evan held out his boots, both of them displaying tooth marks. “I tell you, she’s eating my boots.”
“Well, if you’d put them away like I told you, then the puppy couldn’t get at them.”

Evan eyed the teeth marks in his boots. “But why does she have to eat these boots?”
“You can always get some more,” Peter said, not looking up from the computer.
“But they’re leather. I like leather.” Evan narrowed his eyes at Peter’s change in expression. “One day you’re going to have to tell me what you just thought about.”
Peter wondered if he could describe the vivid image of Evan wearing nothing but leather shorts, cuffs and miles of bare skin.

Books to come

Holding Together

Preorder: 14^th June

Prerelease: 28^th June

General release: 26^th July

Turning Over

Preorder: 12^th July

Prerelease: 26^th July

General release: 23^rd August

Seductive Studs and Sirens Bloghop: Mr Plum

I'm joining in with the Seductive Studs and Sirens Bloghop, for authors and bloggers of LGBT romance, erotic romance and erotica. Follow the linkie to read other wonderful authors and bloggers of the best genre there is.

This week my snippet comes from Mr Plum, my gentle commuter romance.

Dave stared at him, then looked away quickly. Did Tom have any

idea of the effect he was having on Dave?

God, Dave hoped not. Oblivious to Dave's plight Tom loosened his scarf to reveal a dark blue shirt with a matching tie. Dave had a thing about throats. He was a guy, he always checked out the package, but if Dave was honest with himself, it was the throat and maybe a hint of chest hair that did it every time. Tom's throat looked just ready for him to bite.

"You have to dress very formally at your office,"

Dave blurted out to break the silence and then felt like a total tool.

His companion didn't seem to mind though, as he pulled a face. "I'm lucky they don't still expect a bowler hat and umbrella. Honestly, I swear they think dress-down Friday is undoing your top button."

Dave wanted to say that Tom was welcome to undo his top button and undo anything else he'd like to, but that was possibly a little forward on a packed commuter train.