Guest Post

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Hope, Love, and Queeromance with R.L. Merrill

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Hope, Love, and Queeromance column logo - R.L. Merrill

Greetings and salutations. I’m R.L. Merrill—you can call me Ro (she/her)—and I’m here to bring you some hope. That’s right. Times have been increasingly dark in our world and it’s easy to be overwhelmed by life around us and lose direction. That’s why it’s so important to hold onto the things that give us hope. Some folks cling to their faith in times of trouble. Sometimes folks will emotionally check out in order to maintain some semblance of normalcy in their lives. I never want to criticize how anyone chooses to handle the overwhelming amount of stress our society has experienced recently. We’ve witnessed terrible tragedies, unchecked racism and hostility,… Continue Reading Hope, Love, and Queeromance with R.L. Merrill

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Letters from London: Gay Capital of the UK

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Canal - David C. Dawson

London is without question the gay capital of the UK, in terms of the size of its LGBT population. But what about outside London? This will be contentious. Brighton is generally considered to be the gay capital of the United Kingdom. So says Wikipedia. The seaside city of Brighton and Hove on the south coast of England has the largest LGBT population, outside London, in the UK. That’s according to a city census in 2014. Brighton is like the US’s Provincetown, or Germany’s Berlin. It’s had a long history of welcoming LGBT people. Back in the nineteenth century, during the Napoleonic wars, there were many soldiers stationed in the area.… Continue Reading Letters from London: Gay Capital of the UK

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Letters from London: Fetish Fun

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David C. Dawson

It’s the great London clean up. One by one, fetish clubs for gay men are closing across London. Places where men who like leather and other fetish gear can meet and – play. In the 1980s there were more than a dozen fetish clubs in London. Now there are fewer than five. The latest to close was XXL Club on the south bank of the Thames. It had some of the best music. And on a Saturday night it would be packed with beefy bears in leather harnesses. No more. Before XXL closed, Bloc South in Vauxhall became victim to the relentless ‘progress’ of building development. And before that, a… Continue Reading Letters from London: Fetish Fun

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Year in Review 2018 and Goals 2019 – Michael Mandrake/Sharita L

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Taken and Crowned - Michael Mandrake

Hello again. I must apologize for completely skipping November. *sighs* I was very busy with Breakable Faith and Taken and Crowned.  Also, my twin, you know, the devilish muse BL, had some writing to do as well. So alas, we didn’t post anything in November. However, now I’m back to post about this year which has proved to be a breakout! Finally. No, I didn’t receive the dream book or movie deal. In fact, I don’t think I’d want it because that means compromising some of my fiction ideas. Oh and no, I didn’t make six figures. However, I did learn something more about getting closer to my writing goals.… Continue Reading Year in Review 2018 and Goals 2019 – Michael Mandrake/Sharita L

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10 reasons self-published authors should be terribly proud of themselves

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Peacock - Elizabeth Andre

You wrote a book. You wrote a book that you are willing to let other people read. You wrote a book that you are willing to let strangers read. You wrote a book that you consider good enough for people to pay for the privilege of reading. You wrote a book and identified the team of people (editors, proofreaders, cover designers, book designers, beta-readers, general supporters) that you needed to get it out into the world. You didn’t wait for someone else to tell you that you were good enough to publish. You bring stories to the world that traditional publishing may not recognize as marketable or saleable. You publish… Continue Reading 10 reasons self-published authors should be terribly proud of themselves

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5 Things I Learned Writing My First Bisexual Character

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bisexual flag

I’m a lesbian author, and my Lesbian Light Reads series features stories that are deliberately low-drama and filled with beautiful women meeting and falling in love. Continue Reading 5 Things I Learned Writing My First Bisexual Character

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Make a Plan Part 2:Tips for Managing Multiple Writing Projects

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It is not uncommon for me to have four or five writing projects in progress. The gift of ADHD means that I always have projects. Some are large, long term projects such as developing my editorial calendar, manuscript drafts and edits, others are short such as website content and blog posts, and some fall in between, think short stories and journal articles. Although I love the reminder feature on my Google calendar, as a visual person I have difficulty conceptualizing time when it is represented by little boxes on a computer screen. I need to see it all, the whole year all at once.  My solution is a twelve month… Continue Reading Make a Plan Part 2:Tips for Managing Multiple Writing Projects

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Thorns & Ink: Romance and Attraction

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I bet some of you know me, and some of you don’t. I read A LOT. I will read anything. But I think in most circles I am known for my love of kink, erotica, BDSM, shifters, and science fiction. Today, I want to talk about the romance and attraction. I love when authors get under my skin. Good or bad. It lets me know I am still human. Authors create such beautiful characters, I run out of space on my love list. In books we can be attracted to anyone we please. The beauty of it, we can keep it a secret if we want. The interesting thing about romance,… Continue Reading Thorns & Ink: Romance and Attraction

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Pressing Pause:Taking Time to Make a Plan

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You’ve done it. You’ve accomplished your dream and are published. Now what? The first answer is to keep writing. But what? Another book? A short story for an anthology? Promotional materials? Everyone who offers career advice has different opinions. My suggestion is to pause, take some time to write up a plan. Notice I said write a plan. Put it on paper. Take some time to think about it. What do you want to accomplish? Where do you want to be next year? How many books a year do you want to submit, or if you are an independent author do you want to produce? It doesn’t have to be… Continue Reading Pressing Pause:Taking Time to Make a Plan

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All Covers Matter

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This is a repost. To see the original with the beautiful covers of other authors represented, please click here.  Also please read the message about Queer in Color, coming November 5th! When you think about book covers, it should represent what happens in the book. If it’s a mystery, it might be dark with big letters or some kind of complex scene. Fantasy, perhaps illuminations, bright lights that appear to be magic. In romance, most of the time you have people. Whether it be one or multiple torsos, that usually implies romance. Now, that isn’t always the case. Many romances have no people on them, which is fine too. Regardless… Continue Reading All Covers Matter