New Year

Let’s see if I can be more active on here this year.

It’s been a while

Sometimes I wonder why I have a blog other than they told me that as an author I should have one.

So what have I been up to lately?

Working with publisher on cover for Witches Woods – due out in November.

Working on a shifter/mystery series with a co-author. First book has been received back from betas and is in editing process.

Second book is in process.

Did a beta read for a Y/A Sci-fi series by my co-author under a new pen name. Two books written/third in process.

Trying to stay cool in nearly 100-degree heat.

Updating bio in Queeromance Ink. https://www.queeromanceink.com/mbm-book-author/a-t-weaver/

Starting new writers’ group for writers of LGBT fiction in the Kansas City area. https://www.facebook.com/groups/KCmmfictionwriters/

 

Advertisement

I have to apologize

I’m sorry there is no new chapter of Damien and Drew. I have been too sick to write.

Here’s a funny little true story from my childhood.

Grandma and the Snakes

Now, I am not afraid of snakes as long as I know they are not poisonous, but my Grandma Bennett was terrified of even a garter snake.

One fall when I was in junior high school, three of my classmates and I decided we wanted to ‘camp out’ at Grandma and Grandpa’s farm. Grandpa agreed we could camp down in the woods past the pond. Then Grandma got in on things. “Now you girls can’t sleep on the ground. A snake will come and crawl in bed with you.” So she told Grandpa to take the hay wagon down for us to sleep on. “But, don’t park it under a tree. A snake will climb the tree and jump down on them.” So Grandpa took the hay wagon down and parked it out in the open field for us to sleep on. I don’t think he realized he parked it in a pile of dry leaves.

Anyone who knows anything about teenaged girls knows a sleep over is never about sleeping. We were having a good time when, about 2 in the morning, one of the tires on the hay wagon sprung a leak. The air leaking from the tire caused the dry leave to rattle. If you can imagine four teenaged girls screaming at the top of their lungs because we were sure we were parked right in a nest of rattle snakes.

I’m surprised Grandpa and the closest neighbor (1/4 mile away) didn’t come out with shotguns thinking we were all being murdered.

Watch this space – coming soon

Release date: 3/10

 

God, Kim Burrell, Ellen Degeneres, and beer

F.E.Feeley Jr

Earlier I watched Pharrell on Ellen and they spoke about Kim Burrell. You can watch their discussion here. This was a really great way to deal with The Kim Burrell’s ‘sermon’.

This was a really great way to deal with The Kim Burrell’s ‘sermon’.

Tolerance of intolerance is itself, intolerant.

Unlike the Gaine’s family – Kim decided to step out into this subject and condemn and even spoke about ‘gay people dying in 2017.”
But if Kim actually read her Bible, and was a Biblical Literalist – she had no business preaching in the first place. The Bible strictly prohibits women, preachers. It also prohibits women in pants. And cutting their hair. And speaking to men in an authoritative position and on it goes. It’s not only a sin – it’s an abomination.

And the list of abominations and sins was not to make a laundry list so people can…

View original post 849 more words

Lazy

I just realized it’s been almost a month since I posted anything. I haven’t even updated to add The Black Fin Case to my list of books.

Cougar Chaos by A. J. Marcus

“Parks and Wildlife Officer Brock Summers-Weir and his new husband, wildlife rehabber Landon Weir-Summers, are on their honeymoon high in the northern Colorado Rockies when they find an orphaned cougar cub. They quickly discover that there have been a number of cougars injured or killed in the area around Steamboat Springs. Although they are supposed to be on vacation, they work with local officials to try to find out what’s happening to the big cats.

When they get too close to the answers, their camp is ransacked and an ominous message is left. Rather than letting this intimidate them, they step up their investigation in the hopes that they can find the people responsible for the carnage and still manage to have a happy honeymoon.”

_____________________________________________________

This is the fourth in the series about Brock and Landon, and once again, I was on the edge of my chair. The author knows how to build drama and excitement.

As usual, with little regard for their own safety, Brock and Landon work to ensure the safety of the wild animals of Colorado.

The author has deviated a bit from the usual erotica, but I find it in no way detracts from the story. After all, this is not a romance; it is an adventure and mystery.

People who feel that sex is a necessary ingredient in a story about gay men will probably not enjoy it. However, if you like excitement and drama, don’t miss it.

I was furnished a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

My rating: 5 stars

RANT

Why, why, why, do people think that just because a book is about a gay couple there HAS to be sex in it. A lot of authors of GLBT are getting tired of writing nothing but sex.

“This is well-written, book 4 about a couple who’ve just gotten married, but really, you wouldn’t have said they were newlyweds. There weren’t any sex scenes in this, and only a kiss or two. The entire tale seemed to focus on wildlife and on people who were killing/trapping/maiming animals and raising them so that people could come and track and shoot them.

Not a nice tale, but like I said, it’s well-written. Not a romance – not sure how to classify this.”

This is a mystery book. I know of at least three authors who have written mystery series involving straight couples that have NO sex whatsoever in them. One series is up to twenty books now. The couple met in the first book, dated, lived together, got married, and now have kids – BUT THERE IS NO SEX – and no one thinks anything is wrong. Why should GLBT mysteries be any different?

It’s kind of like when I was advocating for same-sex marriage. People would say, “I don’t care what they do in the bedroom.” I know a lot of gay and lesbian couples and I have no idea what they do in the bedroom. What I care about is how they behave in public (and I don’t mind if they hold hands or kiss). Life is more than sex.

My Two Cents Worth

There’s been a lot of discussion lately about differences of opinions between authors and the people who read our books.

Those of us who write LGBT books are being criticized for a couple of things.

First off, we are told our e-books should be free. I’ll admit there are some out there that even at free are not worth the price. But there are also a lot of good books that are not selling.

So we come to the second point. The readers want to tell us what to write. If there isn’t explicit, erotic sex, they don’t want to read it. And most of them don’t even know what constitutes gay sex.

It has reached the point where I expect the dictionary to list ‘erotica’ as a synonym for ‘romance’ any day now.

I had one reader complain because one of my early books didn’t have any anal sex in it. I’m sorry. I think that is because a large portion of readers of M/M books are straight women who have the mistaken idea that anal sex is all gay men do. The fact is over 1/3 of gay men don’t engage in anal sex at all. I even had one author tell me that any gay man who says he doesn’t, is lying.

The books where two men engage in anal sex on every other page are just not believable, and a lot of M/M writers are trying to get away from this type of writing.

I try to follow two quotes in my writing:

“This above all to thine own self be true.” – Wm Shakespeare

“Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self.” Cyril Connolly (1903-1974)

No, I’ll never be rich from writing. I don’t even make enough to have to file Income Taxes since I don’t sell enough to have taxable income. But, I write what I believe in. If readers don’t like it, I’m sorry. But I want my books (even paranormal and fantasy) to be believable.

 

Meet my co-author

I find it hard to believe it’s been five years since I met A. J. Marcus and we started trading beta reads. When I sent him Cousins as a beta read, he recognized the fact that it needed a lot more ‘in-depth’ writing and offered to help. The results were marvelous. He took my characters and breathed life into them.

A.J. has been writing to pass the time since high school. The stories he wrote helped him deal with life. A few years ago, he started sharing those stories with friends who enjoyed them and he has started sending his works out into the world to share with other people. He lives in the mountains with his extremely supportive husband. They have a lot of critters, including dogs, cats, birds, horses, and rabbits. When not writing, A.J. spends a lot of time hiking, trail riding, or just driving in the mountains. Nature provides a lot of inspiration for his work and keeps him writing. He is also an avid photographer and falconer. Don’t get him started talking about his birds, because he won’t stop for a while.

Web Contact Info:

Website: www.ajmarcus.com

Email: andy@ajmarcus.com

Just a few of his books that I have had the pleasure to beta read:

The Ren Faire series:

     

The Mountain Spirit series:

    

Look for many other exciting reads at:http://www.amazon.com/A.J.-Marcus/e/B005WL9MY2/ref=la_B005WL9MY2_ntt_srch_lnk_2?qid=1462304940&sr=1-2