Saturday, December 20, 2014

Guess What? LM's Back!!!!

Influences

Aka: Am I a chicken?

Hello everyone.  First of all, thank you for having me here today to talk about the final book in my Heavenly Sins trilogy.  It has been a long time in coming, but it is finally available for those who want to read the conclusion of Tristan, Mac and Alastor’s story.

First of all, I have to warn that this blog post contains spoilers for the previous two books in the series.  I’m sorry, I do try to avoid putting spoilers in my blog posts, but for this book there is very little I can say about it that won’t reveal at least one spoiler.  It won’t reveal any major spoilers for the final instalment of the trilogy however.

One piece of advice writers are given is to write the story that you want to.  To write for yourself and not for the readers/market.  It is easier said than done.

When I was writing the final book of the Heavenly Sins series I came across a blog post on the well-known Jessewave site.  What I read there from the original blog writer and the readers who commented convinced me that the story I was writing had to be changed.  As a fairly new writer in the genre and one who does not have a following of fans, I couldn’t do anything else after I read that post.

Now, you may be wondering what it was that I had read that convinced me to take a scene from my story and re-write it totally.  It was a post about the role of women in MM and MMM fiction. 

It seems that there is no real role for women in the genre.  No matter where you put them in a story someone, somewhere, will complain.

If you put in an ex-girlfriend for one of the men then she has to be absolutely perfect.  The slightest hint that she is not 100% nice, then you get your book dumped in the category of the evil ex-girlfriend and the complaints start to come in.

Then there is the female friend of one of the men.  The character Summer in Forbidden Waters is one of those.  As a non-love interest or ex-girlfriend you would think she would be safe from criticism, but no.  She apparently annoyed one reviewer recently, which made me feel pretty bad since her personality is based largely on my own.  Nice to know I am that annoying. 

But the worst thing you can do – by far – seems to be to have any female in a MM or MMM book doing anything of a sexual nature.

In the first draft of Between Life & Death I was writing a scene which did that exact thing.  The original incubus and succubus play a part in the final book of this trilogy and in their first scene they do their best to test Tristan’s powers by using their own on him.  In fact they still do this, but their roles have been reversed to a certain extent. 

In the original draft the female succubus played a far more extensive role during their attempts to seduce Tristan.  The reason behind her taking the larger part in the scene was because they are well aware that Tristan is gay, and they want to know how powerful he is.

Is Tristan powerful enough to withstand a demonic seduction of a man who he finds attractive? 

Or is he so weak that a demoness can make him come, even when he does not find her sexually attractive?

Does he have the power to stay faithful to his lovers?

Or is he weak enough that he could be easily manipulated or overthrown from his precarious position in the Underworld?

My first instinct after reading the blog post about females in the genre was to remove the succubus entirely, not only from the scene, but also from the story.

It quickly became apparent this was not the best course of action.  The incubus and succubus are the two main demons of seduction in my series.  To have one without the other was not only impractical, it annoyed the hell out of me to alter my story to such an extent based on the opinions of readers who would probably never pick up any of my books anyway.

So I went back to that first scene and wrote Ardat Lili back in as a bystander.  It still didn’t work.   To ascertain the extent of Tristan’s powers it is essential that both the male and female demons have their turn at testing him. 

Finally I took the decision to write her back into the scene for the final version, albeit in a lesser role than she had played in the first draft of the scene.

I decided that despite the fact that it would annoy some readers – who probably won’t get past the first chapter of the final book – I would not completely re-write (and potentially ruin) the story I wanted to write, merely because of the opinions of those who only seem to be happy when they are criticising and picking fault with others.

Even so, I am still rather nervous about the reactions of even the most open-minded readers when they realise I have dared to include a half-naked female in the story.  If you are brave enough, there is a taste of the scene in question below.



Blurb
With one of his lovers imprisoned in the Underworld, Mac has no choice except to go where most angels fear to tread.
With Tristan imprisoned in the Underworld, the ménage is broken. Angels are forbidden to enter the demonic domain and while Mac has been breaking rules in recent months, he doesn’t have the power to enter the Underworld.
Alastor is still unsure about his position in the relationship following recent revelations, but he cannot walk away when he is the only real link between his two lovers. Splitting his time between Mac and Tristan, he hopes they can soon find a way to reunite the two men in his life.
As time moves on, Alastor realizes he is struggling to satisfy Tristan’s thirst for sex. His lover needs more than he can give him and craves Mac in his bed.
Mac still believes he can complete his mission to save his two lovers, but with one of them out of his reach, it is going to be far from easy.
During their time together they have made plenty of enemies, including one who would seek to separate them forever, even if it means biding his time until Alastor and Tristan are at their most vulnerable, when even the love of an angel can’t save them.
Excerpt

The two demons drew closer as Tristan watched them intently. Something about their movements set his pulse racing. The incubus wore a kilt which reached to his knees. Tristan could see his erection even from halfway across the room. The succubus was even more scantily dressed, her beaded skirt reaching her ankles, though covering very little. She wore a necklace which hung between her bare breasts and her arms were adorned with golden bands. Other than those ornaments, her upper body remained entirely naked. The two of them gracefully glided across the room and sank to their knees. Beneath his tunic, Tristan’s cock hardened in response to their presence.
“Talented, aren’t they?” Lucifer commented. “They can turn you on with only a glance.”
“Can you make them stop it?”
“Why would I want to do that? I find being in their company most pleasurable.”
“I find it quite inappropriate myself.”
“You’re a sex demon. Showing your virility is a good thing, especially since there are already rumors flying round the Underworld about your impotency.”
“I’m not impotent.”
“As everyone will see when they approach you,” Lucifer pointed out with a grin.
The two demons before him kept their heads bowed and remained silent the entire time during Tristan’s telepathic exchange with Lucifer.
“Well, say something, for goodness sake,” Lucifer ordered.
“Like what?”
“Thank them for coming, ask how they are, exchange sex stories for all I care, but say something so they know you’re aware of their presence.”
“Um, hi,” Tristan mumbled. “I’m Tristan.”
Ardat looked up from her place at his feet and smiled. “One of our kind has never sat on the throne before. Today is a momentous day for all sex demons. May I approach you?”
Tristan nodded and the succubus stood up. When she reached the throne, she immediately straddled him and ran her hands down his chest, tweaking his nipples through the thin fabric of the tunic and flicking them with her nails.
“Er…” Tristan began. Would it be an insult to her to say she really wasn’t his type?
“I know exactly what you’re thinking right now,” Ardat whispered in his ear. “It makes no difference if you prefer to share your bed with men. I can make any man come with just the right touch.”


Buy Links


Coming to other online stores in January 2015.

Bio

L.M. Brown lives in England, in a quaint little village time doesn't seem to have touched. No, wait a minute—that's the retirement biography. Right now, she is in England in a medium sized town no one has ever heard of, so she won't bore you with the details. Keeping her company are numerous sexy men. She just wishes they weren't all inside her head.

L.M. believes there is nothing hotter or sweeter than two men in love with each other… unless it is three.

L.M. Brown loves hearing from readers so don't be shy.

Links

Where to find L.M. Brown
Twitter - @LMBrownAuthor

Saturday, December 6, 2014

Guess What? LM Brown brought us One Perfect Wish *squeals*






The Ever-Changing Ending

To say the ending of One Perfect Wish was a long time in coming is putting it mildly.

I like my characters to have happy endings – well, most of the time – but every now and then I really make them suffer.  My free read Anything (found on my blog) is one such example.  When I first started writing One Perfect Wish I had every intention of putting my characters through hell and leaving them there. 

I wanted to write something with a bittersweet ending rather than a traditional happy ever after.

I should have known better.

Despite my best intentions of making them suffer and then delivering the killing blow to end the story, I found myself wavering.

The more words I put on the page, the less likely it was that a bittersweet ending was going to be on the cards.

I like to make my characters work for their happy endings and goodness knows I make them suffer.  But usually it is with the knowledge that once they have earned their reward they get to live happily ever after with the man of their dreams.

As I wrote Scott and Cameron's story I almost immediately started looking for a way out of the bittersweet ending I envisaged for the two of them.  It wasn't long before I had thrown the tear-jerker ending idea into the trash and was leaning towards a hopeful ending.  Not a happily ever after, but at least something less depressing than the notes on the first draft.

For the hopeful ending I did at least get it written and it actually still is a part of the story.  Yet it isn't the end.  I couldn't bear for my two boys to not get their happy ending and ended up carrying on writing their story after the scene that I intended to be the end of the story.

On and on I wrote until Scott and Cameron did get their happily ever after. 

One day I will, hopefully, manage to write that bittersweet ending story and make sure that it doesn't end up with a traditional ending simply because I can't bear to leave my characters unhappy.  I strengthen my resolve to do this every time I see a reviewer call one of my stories “predictable” and one day I know I will have to bite the bullet and write that tear-jerker that will throw everyone for a loop. 

I think, however, that when I do that it will need to be a regular contemporary/historical story.  When you write paranormal it is far too easy to undo the disaster you have inflicted on your characters with a wave of the "magic wand". 

Now, I imagine there are some people thinking that this blog post is mighty spoilery for the story since – horror of horrors – you know Scott and Cameron end up together at the end.  I don't see it that way.  If a story does have an unhappy ending then most publishers put up a warning for the bittersweet ending right there on the product page.  This story does not have one of those, so of course it will have a happy ending.

If you want to know how they achieve it then get your copy of One Perfect Wish.

One Perfect Wish by L.M. Brown

Blurb

Playing the part of another man’s husband to fulfil a wish is easy, but what happens at midnight when the magical day is over?

Scott Baxter is a workaholic with no time for love, until a djinn pulls him out of his life and deposits him into the bed of Cameron Kirk. Cut off from his life, Scott isn’t happy about the idea of being forced to help the djinn grant an unspecified wish, but he soon finds he has no real choice in the matter. The djinn, who has turned his life upside down, has powers that prevent Scott from leaving and ensure he does nothing to ruin Cameron’s day with his ‘husband’.

Reluctant at first, Scott finds that as the day progresses he starts to enjoy playing the role of Cameron’s husband. He connects with his unexpected lover in a way he never has with other men.

Scott searches for clues to help him track down Cameron after the day is over and he returns to his own life. He doesn’t want the day to end, but the wish is out of his control and when the magic is finished his time with Cameron may be over too.

Excerpt

Scott Baxter woke with a strange feeling something wasn’t quite right. Half asleep and with his eyes still closed, he tried to figure out what could be different. The bed seemed too soft and far more luxurious than the cheap hotel mattress he vaguely recalled crashing on the night before. A thick duvet covered him and he could feel warmth similar to the heat that usually came from another body close up against him. He couldn’t recall ever waking in a hotel with such contentment as he felt this morning.

After working nearly forty-eight hours straight, he had flown back to England on the red eye, practically sleepwalked to a taxi, and had finally fallen into bed exhausted. Long overdue for a break, he told himself he’d take one after his latest consulting project had been completed. He told himself the same thing every time, even though he knew his boss would have another job lined up for him before the final work had been finished on this one.

“Morning,” a sleepy voice murmured into his ear.

Scott froze. His unexpected bedmate moved and Scott noticed he had some serious morning wood pressed against his arse.

He opened his eyes. Only his companion’s arm wrapped around Scott’s chest stopped him falling out of bed from the shock. Had the relentless pressure of his job finally caused him to snap?

The hotel room had vanished and instead he appeared to be in someone’s house. The drapes over the patio doors had been pulled back and a snow-covered garden stretched toward a frozen pond. Light snow fell from the cloudy sky. The landscape outside the doors seemed more like January than May.

“Scott, are you okay?”

Scott didn’t know what to say. Had he been drugged and kidnapped? And if so, why? He wasn’t anyone important and his family didn’t have the money to pay any ransom.

“Ah good, you’re awake,” a second voice said. Like the first, this voice also belonged to a man, though he seemed to have a slight accent Scott couldn’t place.

Scott wondered how many men he had climbed into bed with last night, before he saw the second speaker stood at the end of the bed with his arms folded across his bare chest. With baggy silk trousers and golden metal cuffs on his wrists, he could have stepped straight out of Arabian Nights.

“What the hell is going on?” Scott shouted as he tried to untangle himself from the arms of the man sharing his bed. His companion wasn’t exactly helping him and instead seemed to be frozen in place like a statue. He poked the man with a finger. His skin felt normal, yet the other man didn’t react at all.

“You’re here to fulfill a wish,” the man at end of the bed told him. “I’m a djinn and I’m here to explain your present situation.”

Scott stopped contemplating the statue man beside him. “Excuse me?”

The djinn nodded. “I’m sure you’ve heard of my kind. We grant wishes to those who summon us. Well, I’m here because someone wished for you.”

A headache started behind Scott’s eyes. He didn’t have time for this nonsense.

Buy Link


Bio

L.M. Brown lives in England, in a quaint little village that time doesn't seem to have touched. No, wait a minute—that's the retirement biography. Right now she is in England in a medium sized town that no one has ever heard of, so she won't bore you with the details. Keeping her company are numerous sexy men. She just wishes that they weren't all inside her head.

L.M. Brown loves hearing from readers so don't be shy.

Links

Where to find L.M. Brown
Twitter - @LMBrownAuthor


Thursday, December 4, 2014

Guess who came to visit? Mistress Otter brought a couple sweet bears...

BSTB promo poster with date Want to start off saying Thank to TN Tarrant for moving the furniture further out to make room for me and the big boys. Not that I needed the added space, but my Bears tend to break things if a path from the door to the sofa isn’t accommodating. And yeah, should have made more than on dish of the pumpkin bread pudding. What were you thinking? **shakes head**

ANYHOO, BIG SPOON & TEDDY BEAR IS OUT.

ALSO AT Smashwords / All Romance Ebooks And will be listed at Barnes & Noble and iTunes soon
It is the second story for the Teddy Bear Collection. The first being Their Plane from Nowhere which was released with Dreamspinner Press back in May. To tell you a little more than just the standard blurb on Big Spoon & Teddy Bear. It’s a first for me in the way of the entire story being told from just one Character’s point of view. The story actually started off as a short written for one of DSP’s anthology and was limited to no more than 12,000 words. And the entire story was launched on a question I had asked myself: “How would a story play out if one of its characters had Down’s Syndrome?”
Well the story teller fairy answered and Big Spoon & Teddy Bear was written in just two weeks. But as soon as it was submitted for review at DSP, the story was bucking and throwing fits in my head wanting to expand.
It’s funny how stories can have a life of their own, and a personality. In April the selection for the Bear Anthology was made and Big Spoon & Teddy Bear was not among them. Admittedly, there was an actual sigh of relief. The story, while is still a short, has grown some heavy fur like its characters and is now weight in over 35k. However there is also something else unique in this story for me, There is no heavy drama or conflict present, making it a soft read about a self-journey to finding a better spot for the MC to park his heart. It’s this journey I hope many readers will find themselves relating or connecting with that will still keep the story on a good, warm & fuzzy feel list.
BIG SPOON & TEDDY BEAR 500x700

Big Spoon & Teddy Bear

Princess so

MM-Gay Romance/ Mature Men’s Romance / Sports Fiction / Healing
For years Gage has been turning men into steel, athletes into warriors of strength, competitors into medalists. But Gage isn’t looking for any more empty trophies, he’s looking for something far more meaningful.
When Gage takes a new job at an old gym, he doesn’t expect his entire life to get a workout, just a change of pace. At first it doesn’t seem like much and about the only plus is the endless view of rugged and well worked man-candy in the form of weightlifters and Strongman competitors that he’d be training and working with. He figures he has it made the minute he walks in the front door in that sense. But in truth, it isn’t enough. He wants a place to set down roots. More importantly, he wants someone to take root with.
Because he’s gay, Gage had always been told to just be happy with what he got, but there’s something about Boomer. A quiet, towering mountain of a Bear that was the gym’s manager who has Gage hoping for more than just daydreaming about the large physique. And that alone promises to put a spark back into the life of a lonely, freckled ginger.
You’re never too old for a teddy bear, right?
THE TEDDY BEAR COLLECTION Their Plane from Nowhere Big Spoon & Teddy Bear Shagging the Dead {coming out in 2015} ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
teddy-bear-outline-hi