Archive for the ‘Story Recommendation’ Category

Book Reunion!

Friday, November 5th, 2021

Once upon a time, there were a BUNCH of really great e-publishers selling all flavors of romance. Three of these publishers were at or near the top of everyone’s go-to list. Then, in the span of less than two years, those publishers (Samhain, Loose Id, and Liquid Silver Books) went out of business.

The writers belonging to those houses had to reassess. Including yours truly.

I am currently experimenting with the self-publishing route. But what about:

  • Kayelle Allen
  • Betty Bolte
  • Charlie Cochrane
  • Susanna Eastman
  • Thursday Euclid
  • PG Forte
  • Ann Gimpel
  • Jenna Ives
  • Becca Jameson
  • Regina Kammer
  • Gail Koger
  • Lynn Lorenz
  • Clancy Nacht
  • Neil S. Plakcy
  • Marianne Rice
  • Laurel Richards
  • Megan Slayer
  • Jeanne St. James
  • Trinity
  • Renee Wildes
  • Wendi Zwaduk
  • and the Great Allie Ritch?

Well, Allie Ritch tracked us down and and got our info and compiled it into a blog post. Organized by category AND including blurbs and purchase links. It’s kind of amazing and you should definitely check it out:

https://allieritch.wordpress.com/blog/

🙂


Wear a mask. Get Vaccinated. Vote.

Let’s show a reader some love.

Friday, July 28th, 2017

Recently, I received a comment (copy/pasted below) from a Jascian reader that broke my heart. They live in a place where buying gay-themed books (physical or digital) could get them into a lot of trouble, so they can only read stories that are posted online. While I do intend to update Jascian as soon as I can, realistically that could take a while. So I’m asking for suggestions from you. Gay male love stories (centered around love, not just sex) that don’t have to be downloaded in order to be read. I know there are a lot of really, really great stories posted online for free, and I’d very much like to show this reader that we as a community care.

 

Please post your suggestions in the comment section of my home blog (not tumblr, twitter, or Good Reads) to make them easier to access. Whatever platform you’re reading this on should have a link to it, but just in case: http://rowanmcbride.com/blog/?p=391 . They didn’t ask for any of this, but if it were me a story suggestion, or a few words of personal encouragement, would go a long way.

 

Thank you. And thank you to w. brown for writing to me.

__________________________________

From w. brown:

 

This is harking back to antiquity and another topic but the theme is timeless and I don’t see it on the index.

 

I’d give anything to read the continuation of the story, The Jascian’s Toy.

 

I live in a country with an oppressive attitude toward LGBT, a country where nobody is out because being out would mean the end of your career, eviction from your home, the loss of most if not all your friends because people would be desperate to show that the contamination of association with a gay had not wiped off on them. Gays who have been discovered while they’re doing military service have been killed because it gets them out of barracks nobody would want to share with them. Gay bars are a hopeless dream here. There are covert meeting places but they can be dangerous and at the best are little better than a meat market. You might meet a guy you like but just as likely meet one that you need to hide from later and there’s isn’t any time to linger over finding somebody compatible. It’s the luck of a hasty draw that determines who your partner is.

 

Buying a book from abroad would be impossible because it never would clear customs. I would even be afraid of getting anything by email since I don’t know if surveillance would extend to it, or to transactions needed to obtain it. The only source I have to read LGBT material is sites like this, of authors who have generously shared their work in public because I still have anonymous access to some PCs at my workplace. This story in particular has been a godsend since it is a masterpiece, and an abiding consolation that I can resort to without growing tired of it. It is the thing I always turn to when I feel discouraged. I can feel there is a happy ending lurking in it and that Gavin will find a way of showing Blake where his true happiness may lie, and Blake will quietly continue to improve the plight of lessers by urging Gavin to employ His power sympathetically. But it is more than just a beautiful romantic tale, the great adventure of the the love between The Ideal Giant and a human. It makes me feel that there is more to live for than the life I see around me. Every time I read it I want to be a better person, one like Blake, although I cannot be as brave as he is but I think that I could be as brave as I am on my best day.

 

Please, Mr McBride, do not forget about this life-changing story and that it is crying out for completion. Even the occasional addition of a chapter would be such a blessing.

Recommendations!

Friday, October 25th, 2013

Hey hey! What are you guys reading? I’m looking for something sweet and fluffy. (Apparently I’m still decompressing from writing Want Me, lol.)

Got any recs?

Size Differences

Wednesday, June 6th, 2012

Oh, man, I have a thing for size difference stories. Love it when one character towers over the other. M/M, M/F, it doesn’t matter. Such happiness!

But it’s sort of hard to find them in M/M. Was wondering if you had any suggestions for stories with a size difference between the protagonists. If the bigger guy has a bit of muscle, that would be doubly appreciated. XD


Edit: I thought I’d also list a few of the ones I’ve already read here as well, in no particular order. If you have a suggestion, list it in the comments and if I read it and like it, I’ll put it on this list. I’ve also created a GoodReads list, so you can add book there and vote! Click here to see it.

  • Pyromancer by Amanda Young
    • The main character is an angsty firefighter who constantly works out to work off that angst (and sexual frustration). The scene where Tanner first sees said firefighter is priceless.
  • Collared by Kari Gregg
    • A mutation has spread across the world that makes almost everyone “bigger and badder.” A very small percentage, though, go the opposite direction, and Kari Gregg does a great job of portraying both the terror and the hawtness of that situation.

There’s more, but I have to look on the book shelf to see. So, in the meantime…

Share yours! I want to reeeeeeeeeead!

Want Me, Book Depository, and a Manga Rec

Sunday, May 16th, 2010

Mrs. Giggles loves Book Depository. Talks about it all the time on her blog. For some reason I never thought to check it out until recently.

She’s right. It’s pretty freaking awesome. Most of their books have discounts comparable to the other big online book stores, and they have free shipping all over the world, no matter how much or how little you buy. Since I have a lot of days where I only buy one book at a time, this really works for me.

As is my habit when I hit a new book site, I typed my name in the search bar, and it turns out Want Me is listed there as well. So, wherever you are, you can get it shipped to you for free. Very cool.

Click the pic to learn more about Want Me

What I ended up buying on Book Depository was volume one of Kurashina Sensei’s Passion. Was in the mood for a sensei story, and it turned out to be perfect for that. Kurashina himself is one of my favorite types of characters: high strung, high tempered, badass when the chips are down, and his heart’s always in the right place. He wears a suit. He wears glasses. It’s nice.

The story follows Kurashina-sensei as he returns to his alma mater to teach, and how he deals with a wide array of personalities. There’s an interesting dynamic between him and one of the students that starts with Kurashina’s cat puking all over the student.

I’ve only read volume one so far, and it was funny. It was also sweet without getting sugary and I was looking for something lighthearted to read (I’d been feeling the weight of writer’s block and just needed to freaking relax). So if you’re looking for something like that too, I recommend KSP.

Kurashina Sensei's Passion cover

Let’s get ready to ramble.

Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009

Yeah, that New Year’s resolution I made to come up with better blog titles? Not happening.

Last week I participated in an M/M writing workshop at Romance Divas for the Not Going to Conference Conference. I have to admit, I was nervous. I’m still at that stage where I believe 80% of writing is magic, so I was unsure whether I had anything constructive to offer. But as we settled into a groove, I found I had tips to share on characterization, point of view, and even writing sex scenes. Working with the other authors was a lot of fun, and even though I was one of the writers giving the workshop, I also learned a lot.

I also popped in on other workshops. Sasha White’s “Coping With Burnout” thread turned out to be a godsend for me because I was rocketing in that direction. Truth is, I’ve been feeling off my game lately and spending a week talking about writing really helped. Now I’m going to try and take things a little easier for a while, as well as write some stories for fun. And not feel like a slacker when I watch other writers do their thing. Very important.

In keeping with my whole relaxation theme, I finally got to read volumes five and six of Totally Captivated! LOVE it. Recommend and was sad to see it end:

Totally Captivated Cover

The second quarter stats are in for Lone, and it turns out I made the top ten list at Amber Allure:

1) Allergies by T. A. Chase (Gay/Werewolf)
2) Lone by Rowan McBride (Gay/Werewolf)
3) Satisfaction by M. L. Rhodes (Gay/Contemporary)
4) Bottom’s Up: Kinky Orgasm by Amanda Young (Gay/Contemporary)
5) Most Likely To Succeed by Shawn Lane (Gay/Contemporary)
6) David’s Dilemma by Lynn Lorenz (Gay/Contemporary)
7) Bring The Heat by M. L. Rhodes (Gay/Contemporary)
8) Car Wash by Shawn Lane (Gay/Contemporary)
9) Carey’d Away by J. M. Snyder (Gay/Contemporary)
10) Betrayed by Cassie Stevens (Gay/Contemporary)

How cool is it that the top two slots are filled with werewolf stories?

Jumping to another subject (this is a ramble, after all), if you’re like me and enjoy bishies and muscle, please check out Yayoi Neko’s art at http://thundertori.deviantart.com/. I love the way she combines power and beauty in her work.

In totally random fun, Katrina Strauss has posted a vid from a Japanese game show on her blog: Bloggin’ it with Katrina Strauss. As a result, I’m currently trying to find a way to work the term “acrylic kiss” into a story. Lol.

I feel like an amazing amount of stuff has happened over the past two weeks. Of course, when I start to write it all down, it starts to get fuzzy. Hopefully, if I remember more, and it’s interesting enough to write about, I’ll think of a better blog title. 🙂

Blood equals Smex

Wednesday, March 4th, 2009

Note: This blog was originally published on my MySpace blog, May 2, 2008.


I like to think most of my characters are pretty sweet. I’ve been told by more than one person that this just isn’t true, so that probably says something about me right there.

But sometimes, gawd, I just want a hardcore blood=smex yaoi that makes my heart race.

Note: “Blood=smex” is a wise and ancient concept which states that if two hot guys are trying to kill each other, then of course they *must* harbor sexual feelings for each other. Example—Byakuya x Renji.

A while back I bought Best of Enemies by Cassidy Ryan, and I’d never gotten around to opening the file. I’d picked it up based on an excerpt I read at an M/M chat (lesson: e-loop chats find you all kinds of treasures), fully intent on reading it right away. Life got in the way, that didn’t happen, and I didn’t really think about it. Tonight, because I was aching to read something and didn’t know what the hell I was craving, I opened up the file. I finished the story about, oh, five minutes ago.

Holy. Freaking. Smack.

It’s only 3900 words, but damn. Hot, slightly sadistic vampire. Sexy, slightly vengeful sorcerer. Smart mouths and angry, angry sex all around. Turned out to be exactly what I needed. Since all my friends were snug in their beds by the time I read it, blogging about it was my only option. I’m still wired from my fling with Byron and Simeon, despite the fact that even now I’m not quite sure how to pronounce “Simeon.” I keep trying to pronounce it “simian,” which can’t possibly be right. “Sime-on,” maybe, although that didn’t occur to me until just now. I tend to be a little slow on the uptake.

They were great. With these two characters, I never did fully understand why it was blood=smex and not blood=BLOOD, since they’d done some pretty horrible things to each other in the past. But hell, even the not knowing works for the story because the whole thing is quick, raw, riveting. They kick ass while having sex, and that part is…

Definitely a guilty pleasure.

There it is. You’ve probably figured out by now why I don’t write reviews. When I like something, I squee and ramble, which really isn’t a good combination. So here’s the good stuff:

Best of Enemies
Cassidy Ryan
Torquere Press
http://www.torquerebooks.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=79_93&products_id=1184

If you’ve read it, or you pick it up, drop me a line and let me know what you think, okay?