Hi all!

Thank you for dropping in. I hope you have your feet up and a beverage on hand, maybe some snacks if you need them. I have a treat for you today! Firstly let me just say a huge thank you to everyone who made my release day and publiversary last week so awesome. I’ve had sick kids, strike days, and power cuts, so your love and support mean the world to me.

If you haven’t grabbed your copy of Elliot and Thaddeus yet, feel free to check it out today.

A brief writing up date from me. I’m thrilled to have had 425 claims of my freebie Inciting Chaos, and am hard at work plotting the next two books for that little saga. So watch this space for more updates.

This week I have been hard at work on a short story for an Anthology with the lovely Dani Gray. Uncontrollable Chaos features ten incredible MM Romance Authors, is my first anthology, and I’m excited to be taking part. My novella is coming along nicely, and for those of you who asked, Thadamyre from The Awakening of Magic finally meets his mate in When Sparks Fly. As soon as I have a link I’ll be sure to share!

Lastly, before I introduce this week’s authors, some of you may have seen the buy me a coffee link below, and some of you have been very kind by clicking. All proceeds go towards the running and upkeep of the blog, so I can continue to keep sharing with you the incredible authors in our community.

So if you can, please give it a click. Every little bit helps.

Sorry that was a bit of a ramble, LOL, but now it’s time to introduce Colin Dereham and Kelsey Hodge!

Author Bio

Colin Dereham is an Australian author of gritty contemporary gay fiction. His books spin realistic slice-of-life stories of everyday Aussie gay men: their struggles, their traumas, their search for love and their many, many fun times in the bedroom (and anywhere else they can get naked.)

Colin grew up on the north coast of Australia, and studied literature and music degrees in Darwin and Perth. After graduating, he moved to Sydney and pursued a career as a sometime opera singer who paid the bills by working as a mental health nurse and community case and support worker. 

These days Colin navigates life as a legally blind person. He lives in Sydney’s south in an old house with two great blokes and two rowdy Italian greyhounds. When he’s not roaming the streets with an obscenely expensive cane, he can be found squinting at an iPad on his sunny back verandah, writing at a pace that makes snails snigger. 

Colin’s Quirky Questions

Holly: What will I always find in your fridge?

Colin: Cheese. None of us in this house can get enough. Cheese goes with everything.

Holly: What did you plan on being when you grew up?

Colin: I had zero career ambitions as a kid. I didn’t think about the future at all and I really did not enjoy my childhood. I have very few of these fond memories people seem to have. My first serious career ambition didn’t come till I was sixteen and took up singing. I was adamant I would become an opera singer. My dad was a classical music professor, and me and my siblings had all learnt multiple musical instruments to a proficient level. After finishing a degree in literature and music, then a second degree and honours in music and opera, I worked sporadically as a casual opera singer. It isn’t really a full-time career in Australia; you have to go to Europe, but you need loads of money. Sadly, that’s something I never had!

Holly: Were you a reader as a child? What was your favourite book/author?

Colin: I read a lot as a kid. Even back then, I was wholly consumed with contemporary dramas and comedies. I had no understanding of spec fic. I couldn’t follow fantasy or sci-fi, I never had any idea what was going on. I was the weird kid watching “Ordinary People” and “Terms of Endearment” while the other kids were watching “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi.” I was reading Judy Blume’s adult novels and contemporary Australian YA kitchen sink dramas while the other kids were all reading “The Hobbit” and “Lord of the Rings.”

Holly: What pets are currently on your keyboard, and what are their names? Pictures?

Colin: I have two Italian Greyhounds and though they’d like to jump up on the keyboard, they don’t make it past my lap. Tonka is the smaller of the two and he is a complete lapslut. He’s particularly adept at blocking my vision of the computer or the iPad. He knows exactly what he ‘s doing and how to demand full attention. The other one is named Beppe after the comedic clown in the opera ‘Pagliacci’. He used to be a hyperactive little bugger when he was young, but he’s a lot more clumsy and subdued these days since becoming totally blind.  

Holly: What is the most meaningful thing a reader has said to you?

Colin: I am really blessed here. My books fall into a teeny-tiny niche. In comparison to MM romance authors, I’m virtually non-existent.  But there has been the most wonderful feedback from the small amount of readers I have. I’m constantly buoyed by the visceral reviews – the effort people have made to express what effect the books have had on them.

Holly: What tools do you feel are must-haves for writers?

Colin: Firstly, persistence. I definitely don’t have enough, I’m very easily defeated. I’m constantly struggling to get back on the horse. Secondly, you have to be a PR whore. You have to get out there and network and talk to everybody, no matter how much you might feel like hiding away. I find that part easier these days because most people are so warm and receptive. Thirdly, business acumen. It’s so easy to be overwhelmed with everything you have to learn. Nobody is going to market and promote for you – not even publishers these days, unless you somehow get a sweet deal with one of the big five!

Holly: Where do you like to write?

Colin:  Normally I’d be outside on the back deck typing on an iPad. Having low-vision blindness, I can enlarge the font, hold the device inches from my face and type on it with one finger. At the moment, though, it’s getting far too deep into winter. I also have a computer set up in my bedroom with a 45 inch TV as a monitor. I still need to blow the text up extremely huge and most of the stuff on the screen is still way too small to see. On the flip side, it’s not cold inside!

Holly: What advice do you wish you’d had before releasing your first story?

Colin: Build a social media following before you publish. Review books, talk about books, be a general book whore. Join groups and participate. Don’t hide away writing and submitting to publishers and think you can establish all this when your book comes out. It really set me back months and I had to be online constantly night and day trying to catch up.

Holly: Let’s talk to your characters for a minute – what’s it like to work for such a demanding writer?

Colin: He’s a cool writer. He lets us have lots and lots of really hot sex. But he’s a prick when he makes us go through hideous traumatic dramas. However, we can cope with it because he’s bloody lazy and lets us rest for long periods of time.

Holly: How many books have you written, and which is your favourite?

Colin: I have published four books so far, a mixture of trad and self published. Two of them are novels (“Hound” and “Nervous Kid”), one is a long novella (“The Lookout”) and one is a collection with two short novellas and one novelette (“One Night Stand”). I’m not being coy and diplomatic when I say I love them all for different reasons. I do feel, however, that the last book “Nervous Kid” turned out even better than I had ever expected.

Holly: Which scene in this book was the most fun to write?

Colin: The most fun scene I’ve written was in “Nervous Kid”, where the two MCs make a rather shambolic attempt at BDSM roleplay. It’s the kind of OTT theatrical sex scene that’s fun to read out, and I actually did a pretty bawdy live reading in Dianna Roman’s group (Roman’s Rascals) for her Naked and Afraid party earlier this year.

Holly: If you’re planning a sequel, can you share a tiny bit about your plans for it?

Colin: The next book isn’t actually a sequel to “Nervous Kid”, but it will feature the MCs from that book, Ryan and Dominic, plus Ryan’s brother Nathan in smaller support roles. It’s about two men in open relationships – a legally blind ‘little bear’ with an abusive boyfriend and a ‘big bear’ whose long-term partnership has faded away. When the two bears meet, they form a passionate fuckbuddy friendship and realise it’s the push they need to escape their unhappy situations.

Holly: What would you and your MCs talk about if you went out for coffee?

Colin: How soon I could get them home and into bed.

Teaser from Nervous Kid

Dominic moves in even closer, his furry torso now mingling with mine. The heat radiates between us, humidifying the microscopic gap separating my body from his. But something else is happening too. I’m now completely surrounded by his natural masculine fragrance. That pungent, blissful aroma of a day spent in hot weather. Of a day that Dominic spent in hot weather. I start to tremble. “I can smell you, Dominic.”

 “Is that your way of telling me I need a shower?”

“NO!” I jump a little, rattled by the force of my reply. “I mean, no. It’s like… it’s like I’m fourteen all over again. Trying to sit really close to you on the couch while we played Nintendo so I could smell your scent. Breathing in deep as I squeezed past you in the kitchen or the hallway.” I pause, wondering about my next admission. Fuck it. “Stealing your dirty underwear and wanking as I sniffed them deep and long and hard.”

“Even back then, eh?” Dominic moves his face alongside mine, his beard grazing my cheek, and murmurs into my ear. “I had no idea you were such a kinky little shit.” He bends down, plants his nose against one of my armpits and inhales across my chest to the other. “You smell so good, Ryan. Look what you’ve done to me.” He leans back a little, grabbing his package and showing me the long, hard outline underneath his yellow lycra togs. “Now, are you gonna join me in the spa or what?”

 “No, Dominic.” I’m breathing heavily now. “I don’t want you to wash any of this glorious manstink off you. I want to take you to bed and drown in it. I want to run my nose over every inch of you and sniff so hard I pass out.”

“Jesus, you are one filthy cunt.” He grabs my hand and tugs hard, pulling me down the hall to his bedroom like it’s a dire emergency. And, fuck me, after twenty-plus years it fucking well is. 

Colin’s Follow Me Links:

Linktree

Author Bio

Kelsey Hodge has always loved reading; it is something she has been doing since she was a child.

Loving the escape the imagination can bring. The desire to write stories of my own was a dream, that Kelsey never thought would become a reality, but after encouragement from a wonderful partner, the words started, and they haven’t stopped.

Writing has become a passion, the characters in her books, her friends and Kelsey cannot wait to bring you along on the adventure ahead.

Kelsey’s Quirky Questions

Holly: If you could be an animal for a day what would it be and why? 

Kelsey: Cat because mine are spoilt. Be nice to be pampered all day. 

Holly: Are you oddly obsessed with anything? Tell me about it! 

Kelsey: Oddly obsessed with weather. I love watching thunderstorms. I just find all types of weather fascinating.

Holly: Do you have any quirky collections? Feel free to add photos! 

Kelsey: I collect Elephants in all shapes and sizes. I have pictures and ornaments. 

Holly: If you had to write yourself a warning label what would it say?

Kelsey: Proceed with caution – talks a lot. 

Holly: Does writing exhaust you or energize you? 

Kelsey: For me it’s a mixture of both depending on what part of the story I am at.

Holly: What’s your favorite underappreciated novel, yours, or someone else’s. 

Kelsey: I would like my debut novel, For the Love of Flowers to have a little more love 

Holly: What’s your writing process like? 

Kelsey: My process recently changed but I plot out all of my books. Once that is done I write for between 2 to 3hrs a night or half a chapter and try to be quiet strict.   

Holly: What one book have you written that you think best shows off your writing style? Why? 

Kelsey: I think all of my books show off my writing style. Each book is a part of me and are special. Love making characters who are relatable. 

Holly: What comes first for you, plot, or characters? 

Kelsey: Characters come to me and I then use them to work out my plot. 

Holly: What’s your most annoying habit? 

Kelsey: I talk a lot. 

Holly: What’s on top of your fridge? 

Kelsey: Cooking tray and Christmas mugs 

Holly: What’s your favorite thing to do to relax?

Kelsey: watching tv or playing on my phone.

Holly: Which household chore do you find the most agitating? 

Kelsey: Ironing

Holly: How many unread books are on your Kindle or bookshelf right now?

Kelsey: over a hundred 

Holly: Explain your book terribly in a few words. (For example two men meet and hate each other, until they don’t) 

Kelsey: Two men who try to ignore each until friends get involved

Holly: Where did your inspiration come from for your MCs?

Kelsey: Inspiration comes from everywhere from Youtube videos to songs.  My partner comes up with great ideas too.

Holly: What did you do to unwind in between words when writing this book? 

Kelsey: Watch TV or play on my phone

Holly: Tell me three reasons I should buy this book today!

Kelsey: Because they are full of heart and laughter 

Holly: Was there anything lost in the story in the editing process that you wish you’d been able to keep?

Kelsey: Nope, my editor is awesome. 

For the Love of Flowers

RE-RELEASE

Lorenzo

I was never meant for this life. I never wanted to follow what my father had planned for me, yet I didn’t have the strength to leave. Then one day, he came into my shop and my double life started. I was always looking over my shoulder, constantly scared that my secret would be discovered… until the day the secret must come out. Now I must be brave enough to fight for the life I want or die trying.

Wyatt

I was happy with my life; I had worked hard to get to my position, and I didn’t see it changing until the day I walked into his shop. I thought we had always been honest with each other until the day his secret came out. Now I must decide if I trust him enough to do what is needed and risk losing him, just to have the future I never realized I wanted.

Kelsey’s Social Links

NEW IN MM ROMANCE THIS WEEK!

Vawn Cassidy’s Dead Serious # 3: Mr Bruce Reyes

Releases JULY 21!

Preorder here: https://mybook.to/DeadSeriousCase3

Blurb:

Tristan Everett was finally getting used to the strangeness that was his life. Being able to see the dead and helping them solve their unfinished business and cross into the light wasn’t so bad after all, especially when he was accompanied by his best friend, dead drag queen Dusty Le Frey. His boyfriend, sexy Scotland Yard detective Danny Hayes, now knew the truth about Tristan’s “gift,” and they were about to move in together officially.

Life was good.

That is until Death—honest to god, Death (aka The Grim Reaper)—pitches up in Tristan’s kitchen with an unusual request: stop Dusty’s ghostly hookup Bruce from crossing into the light, which may result in dire consequences.

Determined to do the exact opposite, Tristan and Danny assemble their own ragtag gang of one prickly witch, one snarky psychic private investigator, one living drag queen with an affinity for feathers, and one dead one with an affinity for a deceased rugby player in tiny shorts. Together they must solve a forty-year old cold case, while juggling a dose of the flu, a broken leg, a supernatural storm, and an immortal death deity with the looks and temperament of a sexy but grouchy CEO.

Seriously…what could possibly go wrong?

Sea and Sky by Morgan Lysand 

Live on the 21st of July you can preorder here
https://mybook.to/seasky
After twenty years bound to a pirate captain, merman Kyler is desperate for his freedom before his scale consumes him. For reasons unknown to Kyler, the captain agrees to set him free, if he can pay the steep price by the end of summer.
Prince Gavin, third son of the king, has been denied the Grand Mage status he’s sought for seven years. Finally, the king decides to grant him a Task that will lead to him receiving the recognition he deserves. Unfortunately, there’s a pesky arranged marriage he has to deal with.
When Kyler saves the charming prince from drowning, Gavin asks him to play his lover for a month to get out of marrying a princess from another land. Kyler agrees after Gavin offers him a favor. A favor Kyler intends to take full advantage of.
Will Kyler gain his freedom or will the captain keep him forever? Can Gavin protect his heart and become a Grand Mage or will he be torn apart by betrayal?
Sea & Sky is a sweet and steamy MM fantasy romance featuring a lonely broken merman and a dragon prince who is not as arrogant as he first appears.

I hope you enjoyed this week’s episode of Holly’s Quirky Questions. 

 A huge thank you to Colin Dereham and Kelsey Hodge for being so awesome.

Next week we have Dianna Roman and Anne Brook so until then, keep smiling, read lots, and be kind – the world needs it!

Find a Spark of Magic Every Day.