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Friday Fun Five

Happy Friday! This week’s guest is HeatherK. Thanks, Heather.

To know more about Heather, see what she’s up to on Twitter (@dentistheatherk). Her ongoing triumph is maintaining myfictionnook.com, an all-romance review site.

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1) Did you watch Saturday Morning Cartoons growing up?

Oh yeah, I was a HUGE TV junkie. My brother and I watched hours of cartoons every weekend. Oddly enough, I rarely watch TV now.

2) A day hike or a spa day?

Oh my god, spa day, any day of the week. For my 30th birthday I took my closest friends and family to a destination spa and we spent the entire weekend being pampered. Bliss.

3) The Caribbean or The Mediterranean?

Probably the Mediterranean. I’ve been to the Caribbean before, so I’d like to try something totally new for me.

4) What is your favorite word?

That’s a tough one. I have the mouth of a church lady (a Jewish church lady??), so I never curse. I just feels wrong to me! My favorite word would probably be… love? I like “love.”

5) If you could all-access explore any house in the United States, which would you choose?

I would most likely pick some random celebrity. I think it would be exciting for about five minutes, then start to feel kind of creepy.


Heather is a part-time blogger/reviewer, full time wife and mother, part time dentist, and full time sleep-avoider. HeatherShe first discovered romance a few years ago and then gay romance in 2012 and has been hooked every since. Now she spends most of her time with her nose in her Kindle, mainlining coffee, and trying to balance life and work. Heather’s mottos are honesty and loyalty, and though she looks innocent, she has a love of everything smutty, smart, and kinky. Her husband has his hands full.

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Friday Fun Five

Happy Friday! This week’s guest is Lyla Bellatas. Thanks, Lyla.

To know more about Lyla Bellatas, check out LylaBellatas.com or see what she’s up to on twitter (@LylaBellatas). Her latest literary triumphs: She’s shopping No Fear, her first book in the Racing Hearts Series, and Spell Bound, her first book in The Enchanted Candles Series and hopes to be published soon.

Racing Hearts


1) Which season do you enjoy the most?

I love Autumn. I love the colors. The leaves, the cloudless blue skies and cool Canadian breeze. Besides my birthday is in September.

2) Armadillos or sloths?

Definitely Sloths. With resting happy face and smeared eye liner they look like they had a wild night and could not care less what other people think. No walk of shame for them. And with Taurus Rising I can’t help but admire their ability to make hanging out a priority.

3) Hostess or Drake’s Cakes?

Drakes except I haven’t had one since I was in elementary school. I used to love Ring Dings and those CoffeeCakes. Unwrapping a Ring Ding was such a sensual act. All that chocolatey goodness in a compact tin foil wrapped package that was surprisingly weighty. Yum.

4) What is your favorite word?

The first word that came to mind is egregious! I know… it’s a strange one to pick but so perfect, unfortunately, to so many things these days. From a sound perspective I like the way it rolls off my tongue.

5) If you could relive one day from your past, when would you go back to?

The birth of our daughter was a tremendous day, but the prevailing emotion was relief. Joy, yes but mostly relief like at the end of a grueling marathon. I actually fell asleep on the operating table after she was born. The doctor and her staff had a good laugh. She said she’d never had a mother fall asleep. I said I hadn’t slept for over a year trying to conceive her and throughout the difficult multi-911-call filled pregnancy. Even the birth ended up in an emergency C. So after we counted her fingers and toes I fell asleep.

The day I would love to relive was our wedding day. The emotion that best describes it is Pure Bliss. It was a spectacular day; it rained a little in the early morning and then the sun came out and it was gorgeous, which was good because our reception was outside at my parents’ house. I was so happy and excited. I had waited such a long time to find my husband–scoured endlessly searching–and once we met I knew that moment I’d found him and I couldn’t wait to be married.

I asked my husband which day he would relive… he wanted to relive our two-week honeymoon. I said you can only pick ONE day! He said our wedding day. But we absolutely need to have a honeymoon do-over. The Greek Islands and Lake Lugano are stunning.


Born Armenian American on Long Island’s Gold coast, Lyla defies convention. Lyla BellatasShe plays like a man in a man’s world but is always a woman. In a time where style often matters more than substance, she’s fierce, fun, and fearless. Lyla’s passions have led to many outlets. She is a high-performance race car driver and driving instructor, poker player, and loves to shoot pool. She was gifted her first tarot deck during a chance encounter in an elevator. Innately empathic and claircognizant, tarot unlocked the natural witch within. Lyla has taught tarot and pessomancy (reading stones), and read professionally, collecting stories along the way. She still reads with or without a deck when the moon shines just right. Lyla writes contemporary and paranormal romances with strong female heroines that shatter gender boundaries while following their own line, and the men who respect and love them. They are bold and fierce navigating the duality of being strong, powerful, and ever divinely feminine.

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Friday Fun Five

Happy Friday! This week’s guest is Mary Calmes. Thanks, Mary.

To know more about Mary Calmes, check out her website here or her blog here. Her latest release is Sultry Sunset and is available at Dreamspinner Press.

Forging The Future


1) Best Halloween costume as a kid?

I used to watch Emergency! when I was a kid, (which tells you exactly how old I am), and I wanted to be a fireman so bad and live at Station 51 with the guys that I dressed up like a fireman three years in a row.

2) Sweet or unsweet iced tea?

It depends on the restaurant I’m in. If they serve flavored tea, raspberry, mango, peach, then I would probably get that but as a rule, unsweetened is what I chose 9 times out of 10. It’s funny though, now that I live in the South, I’m spoiled with tea as an option. When I was in Orlando for the DSP workshop back in March, I asked for tea at a restaurant and nope, they had none. That’s crazy. I’m so used to my options being sweet or unsweet that I take it for granted.

3) High peak observation deck or cave tour?

Before visiting Mammoth Cave last summer I would have said observation deck but now I’m definitely a cave tour person. Interestingly enough, Mammoth Cave is the longest known cave system in the world and it’s in Kentucky where I live now. It was incredible, we were hundreds of feet underground, with lanterns, and in the fall you can take a boat ride on the underground river. I’m a cave geek now, it’s wild.

4) What is your favorite word?

Splendid. It’s a great word and not used nearly enough.

5) You get to design your dream beach house. Which beach will this house front, and what has to be inside?

My dream beach house would be on the island of Capri on Marina Grande harbor and therefore would be technically more villa than house. I’d need my family, my cats, friends to visit, my computer, all my books, WiFi, NetFlix, wine (red), my Keurig, my electric kettle for tea, and a fabulous interior decorator who would make the whole place look good enough to be in Architectural Digest. Sounds fabulous, I’m ready to go. 🙂


Mary Calmes lives in Lexington, Kentucky, with her husband and two children and loves all the seasons except summer. Mary[1]She graduated from the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, with a bachelor’s degree in English literature. Due to the fact that it is English lit and not English grammar, do not ask her to point out a clause for you, as it will so not happen. She loves writing, becoming immersed in the process, and falling into her work.

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Friday Fun Five

Happy Friday! This week’s guest is B.G. Thomas. Thanks, B.G.

To know more about B.G. Thomas, check out one of his blogs. He’s got one all about his newest projects (or just things on his mind). He’s also got one called 365 Days of Silver in which he is making sure to write at least one thing per day (for a year) he is grateful for or a silver lining he finds on even the worst days. Or you can read his Twitter (@BGThomasBooks).  His latest literary triumphs are the Seasons of Love books and are available here. Next week he has a brand new novella coming out! You are going to LOVE it! Find it here.

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1) Are there any words you always misspell when you’re writing?

“Mispell” (misspell). No seriously. And “experiance” (experience). I don’t know what the problem is with the word but I can’t get it.  And I type “jsut” (just) almost every single time! Arrrrgnhhhhh!

2) After dinner: death by chocolate truffle cake or the cheese board?

After dinner it is chocolate truffle cake. I didn’t even have to think about this one. I just finished my taco dinner and I want chocolate ice cream. It is frozen like stone and I am tapping my foot right now waiting for it to be thawed enough to eat. Food makes me crave a sweet. Now before dinner? The answer would have been a cheese board. No question. With each cheese being sharper than the next. None of that brie or anything like that. Mild cheeses taste like pencil erasers to me. Or thick air. I crave FLAVOR all the time!  It’s also my downfall!

3) Bora-Bora cabana or Canadian Rockies cabin?

Oh, Bora-Bora. Something else I didn’t even have to think about. Canadian Rockies might include snow. Snow is a four letter word. My teeth chatter when it drops below 55. Really. When I finally retire it will be to a place where I never ever have to see snow again. People who send me Christmas cards with snow on it might be removed from my “friends list.” LOL. Bora-Bora! Yes. Beaches. Ocean. Swimming. Sand. Lovely huts. Drinkies with umbrellas in them. Served by cabana-boys in teeny tiny, itsy bitsy swim suits. Spreading suntan lotion on me and my husband. We are under this big rainbow umbrella. When I am not in the sun working on my flawless tan. *grin*

4) What is your favorite word?

Gosh. It might be the F-word. It drops out when I don’t even know it (I am ashamed to say). And I like the word “shit.” It means so many things. Some comedian even said something about it in a skit once. It can mean, “This is some good shit.” Or it can be, “Shit!” (as in, “I am upset”). Or it can mean “I just stepped in some shit!” Or, “This is the shit!” (which is a good thing). Or it can mean, “This tastes like shit!” Then there is, “What are you doing with my shit.” Or “Would you get your shit out of the way?” Or “Oh shhhiiiiiiiiit, that was good!” Or “Oh, shit, that was terrible.” Or “Quick! Come look at this awesome shit!” Or “Will you look at that shit?” It is universal.

Or my favorite word might be “Namasté.” Which means “The good and the Divine in me recognizes the good and Divine in you.”

Yeah. I’ve changed my mind. Namasté. That’s my word!

5) If you could go back ten years and give yourself one piece of advice what would be?

Not to wait! Oh God yes! Not to wait to pursue my dreams! To jump! To leap and to know that the net WILL appear. I would have sent in the first submission several years before I did. I have quite a few books out today. I would have maybe twice as many. I would be working as a full-time writer instead of being a year or so from being a full-time writer. And if the question had been twenty years instead of ten, it would be dump that guy and believe in yourself because there is this wonderful man who actually truly is waiting for you to be single. I would be celebrating almost twenty five years today instead of fifteen. I’ll take the fifteen years though and gladly. I am living a MM Romance Novel! He is my heart and my light and my inspiration.What could be better than that?


B.G. loves romance, comedies, fantasy, science fiction and even horror—as far as he is concerned, as long as the stories bg thomasare character driven and entertaining, it doesn’t matter the genre. He has gone to conventions since he was fourteen years old and has been lucky enough to meet many of his favorite writers. He has made up stories since he was child; it is where he finds his joy. In the nineties, he wrote for gay magazines but stopped because the editors wanted all sex without plot. “The sex is never as important as the characters,” he says. “Who cares what they are doing if we don’t care about them?” Excited about the growing male/male romance market, he began writing again. Gay men are what he knows best, after all. He submitted his first story in years and was thrilled when it was accepted in four days. “Leap, and the net will appear” is his personal philosophy and his message to all. “It is never too late,” he states. “Pursue your dreams. They will come true!”

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Friday Fun Five

Happy Friday! This week’s guests are Matt and Evan. Thanks, Matt and Evan.

To know more about Matt and Evan, check out the Faith, Love, & Devotion series by Tere Michaels. Book six–the final book–of the series is now available from Dreamspinner Press.

TruthTendernessLG


1) What’s your favorite time of day?

Matt: Bedtime!
Evan: My quiet time in the car, going to work.
Matt: Liar.

2) If you weren’t able to live in NYC where would you put up with being instead?

Matt: Westchester.
Evan: Maybe New Jersey.
Matt: Now you’re just trying to get a rise out of me.

3) Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

Evan: Police commissioner.
Matt: Spoiling our grandchildren and shooing boys away from my goddaughters.

4) What word best describes you?

Matt: I get to pick for Evan. I like stalwart.
Evan: That’s unsexy.
Matt: Hot ass stalwart is too many words.
Evan: Matt is incorrigible.

5) How many times do you say “sorry” before it’s too many?

Matt: This problem can be solved by never saying sorry.
Evan: Or by apologizing via other means.
Matt: He means blowjobs.


Reeling from the recent death of his wife, police officer Evan Cerelli looks at his four children and can only see how he fails them. His loving wife was the caretaker and nurturer, and now the single father feels himself being crushed by the pain of loss and the heavy responsibility of raising his kids.faithfidelity
At the urging of his partner, Evan celebrates a coworker’s retirement and meets disgraced former cop turned security consultant Matt Haight. A friendship born out of loneliness and the solace of the bottle turns out to be exactly what they both need.
The past year has been a slow death for Matt Haight. Ostracized from his beloved police force, facing middle age and perpetual loneliness, Matt sees only a black hole where his future should be. When he discovers another lost soul in Evan, some of the pieces he thought he lost start to fall back in place. Their friendship turns into something deeper, but love is the last thing either man expected, and both of them struggle to reconcile their new and overwhelming feelings for one another.
Fast forward a couple of years (and books) – Matt and Evan are continuing to live their lives together, with new careers and career paths, more teenagers than you can shake a stick at and a host of friends who need constant care and feeding.

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Do Good May.15

Every month I feature a way to give back by sharing things I’ve found meaningful to champion. For May 2015 I chose the Lucky Iron Fish™ project. This is a great and mindful way to make direct, positive change in people’s lives. The Lucky Iron Fish™ is a simple and effective health innovation that can provide 75% of daily required iron intake to the 3.5 billion people worldwide suffering from iron deficiency. All it takes is to cook with it.

More information || Ways to give

fish

Mission Statement:

Imagine a world where the billions of people who are constantly tired, struggle to work or focus, and often feel sick are finally able to lead healthier and more productive lives. We’re dedicated to leading the fight against iron deficiency in Cambodia and around the world. And we know that the Lucky Iron Fish™ can and will make a big difference. We’ve made it our mission to put a fish in every pot.

We are striving to realize this vision in a socially and environmentally responsible way. That’s why we’re committed to hiring local staff, using recycled and biodegradable materials, and supporting like-minded businesses and organizations. As a result of this commitment we are now a B-Corp certified company.

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Happy giving, in whatever way you choose to better your world!

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Friday Fun Five

Happy Friday! This week’s guest is Hayley Peterson. Thanks, Hayley.

To know more about Hayley Petersen, check out her Instagram (hayleypetersen). Her ongoing triumph is co-running Dreamspinner Press’ and DSP Publications’ well-oiled social media machine, and her efforts can be seen at DSP’s website and Facebook.

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1) If you could own five acres of land anyplace in the world, where would they be?

A private island somewhere in the Pacific with beautiful sandy beaches. That, or part of Disney World.

2) Go out dancing or stay in with board games?

Board games for sure.

3) Candy floss pink or agate brown?

Both!

4) What is your favorite word?

I don’t know if it’s my favorite word, but I do say “geez louise!” A LOT in pretty much any circumstance. Otherwise, my favorite would be oishii which means delicious in Japanese. My Bachan (grandmother) and I always say it over meals together and it was probably the first Japanese word I learned as a child so it holds a lot of memories.

5) Dreams come true in less than ideal settings sometimes–awkward time or awkward place, for example–has this happened to you?

Absolutely! This is actually my favorite story to tell because it makes me so happy. I moved to Manchester, UK from Vancouver, Canada a couple years ago to try my hand at working in theatre production (stage management, sound design, etc.) and was working in a restaurant to pay the bills while working a few theatre gigs. While I had some good times and friends at the restaurant, the environment was less than pleasant at times and not exactly what I wanted to do as a career.  In addition, after working a bit of theatre, I was beginning to realize that I didn’t want to make a career out of it as I thought I had so I was feeling a bit stuck.

One evening I was working my usual dinner shift when Elizabeth North, Ariel Tachna, and all of the lovely DSP badasses walk in for a table after a long day at the UK Fiction Meet. I ended up serving them and we seemed to hit it off. They ended up coming back 2 days later and I was able to serve them again. Things ended up going so well that in the end, Elizabeth offered me a job with DSP. I learned 2 things that night. 1. Dreams come true when you don’t even expect it. For example, this job. And 2. Giving nice customers extra Sticky Toffee Pudding always pays off. 😉


Hayley Petersen is the Social Media Assistant for Dreamspinner Press and Media Coordinator for DSP Publications. She Capturehas been with DSP since 2013 and it’s possibly the best thing that’s ever happened to her. Originally from Vancouver, Canada, she now lives in Manchester, UK and has slowly developed a fondness for tea, savoury pies, and Eton Mess.

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Friday Fun Five

Happy Friday! This week’s guest is Amy Lane. Thanks, Amy.

To know more about Amy, see what she’s up to on Twitter (@amymaclane) or join her Facebook group Amy Lane Anonymous. Her latest literary triumph is Immortal, a sort of brutal fairy tale and a sweet heartwarming romance (both at once!), and is available here.

Immortal


Hey all! I’d like to thank Elle for inviting me to Friday Fun Five, and to ask her, “Hey– what’s the deal with making me crave pie. That’s no fair at all!” And here they are– my answers to the Fun Five!

1) If you could yarn-bomb anything at all in the world, what would you knit encase?

The Avengers building.

2) Trail ride: Horses or three-wheelers?

You are far more likely to find me on the back of a magic carpet than a horse or a three-wheeler.

3) Cake or pie (and what kind!)?

Pie. Chocolate and banana cream.  Either or. All is right with the world.

4) What is your favorite word?

Any combination of swearwords is all win for me!

5) You can visit any historic architectural wonder in its prime–where do you go?

The Temple of Artemis– because it was completely destroyed and we need more kickass women models 😉


Amy Lane has two kids in college, two gradeschoolers in soccer, two cats, and two Chi-who-whats at large. momcommissionV3She lives in a crumbling crapmansion with most of the children and a bemused spouse. She also has too damned much yarn, a penchant for action adventure movies, and a need to know that somewhere in all the pain is a story of Wuv, Twu Wuv, which she continues to believe in to this day! She writes fantasy, urban fantasy, and m/m romance–and if you accidentally make eye contact, she’ll bore you to tears with why those three genres go together. She’ll also tell you that sacrifices, large and small, are worth the urge to write.

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May.15 Book Rec

This month’s book recommendation: Red Tails In Love by Marie Winn. This book has so many elements I love–birding, hawks, New York City, Central Park, and lively nonfiction prose to tell you all about everything. The nesting hawk pair is as good a love story as any romance novel I might recommend, and perfect for when spring begins to heat up into summer.

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In the spring of 1992, a pair of red-tailed hawks built a nest on a high ledge of a building on New York City’s Fifth Avenue. Excitement rocked the world of Central Park’s devoted birdwatchers: never before had a red-tail been known to nest on a city building.

This book is quintessential New-York-Ism as much as the peccadilloes and quirks abounding in the birding world. It makes for an amusing, heady combination. It’s full of personality and information about everything the hawks’ nesting saga touches: from the hawks’ famous neighbors, to the avid birders watching their every swoop, to the bustle of the City below them. A world-within-a-world narrative as charming as the dashing Pale Male.

If you’re ever in Central Park go find the Bird Registry–it’s well worth your while!

Brew a pot of tea and enjoy!

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Friday Fun Five

Happy Friday! This week’s guest is Joyfully Jay. Thanks, Jay!

To know more about Jay, check out her blog joyfullyjay.com or see what she’s up to on Twitter (@jayhjay432) and Facebook. Her ongoing triumph is maintaining Joyfully Jay where she reviews books and talks all things romance.

joyfully  jay


1) What single item in your home couldn’t you live without?

Well, aside from all the really important things like my husband and kids, food and clothing, my superficial answer is going to be my computers. Sadly I spend much of my day in front of the computer because I work from home and I run my blog. Between those two things I am in front of one for hours a day. Now the boring one is the clunky laptop I have for work. That is the one I tolerate. The fun one is the big, beautiful iMac that I use for the blog. The screen is so big I have to sometimes tip my head to see it all (yet still my cat manages to block it).  But I love it because it is big and fast and awesome! My second place answer is going to be my knitting needles. I recently started knitting (in November) and have become a total addict. I knit pretty much every night. Right now I am in the middle of three different shawls!

2) Cruise ship or transcontinental train?

Ohh, this is a hard one because I am solidly a beach girl. We go every year at least once and I love nothing more than to sit on the sand with a good book. So tropical climates are totally my thing. But I think I’d have to say transcontinental train because it seems cruises and my iffy stomach are not a good combination! And there is something so romantic about trains, no? I mean, I am sure in real life it is nothing like I imagine, but somehow the idea of traveling across the county, watching the scenery whiz by, and cuddling up in a sleeper car sounds intriguing.  Now if you could get me on a train to the beach, then it would be perfect!

3) Museum going: Art or science?

Science. I am lucky enough to live outside of Washington, DC where I have access to the many fabulous free museums.  I am a huge fan of the Air & Space museum and Natural History. I even like those discovery hands-on kind of places for the kids. When I travel to new cities, I always try to hit a museum there as well. I recently had a great time at the Field museum in Chicago. While I can appreciate art, I have never really been a big fan of art museums.

4) What is your favorite word?

Oh gosh, I don’t know if I have a favorite word, though I do have some I seem to fall back on quite a lot. I realize that I constantly use the word bit when I write my reviews, like “I was a bit surprised…”.  I have reached the point where I have to try to consciously avoid it, but sometimes I still can’t help myself.  I also recently read the transcript of a podcast I did on m/m romance and I realized I said “you know” so many times you could make a drinking game out of it and need your stomach pumped by minute 3!

5) In our digital age we’re exposed to a lot of pictures and images. What is one in particular that’s stayed with you?

I’m going to say a picture I saw of the Scottish Highlands. My husband and I were there three summers ago, and it is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. We spent 11 days traveling around the country and we had our own rental car, so we got to drive ourselves everywhere.  It is amazing how undeveloped the area is, even today. We went to see some ancient standing stones and we were the only ones there, just us and the sheep.  When you go to Loch Ness, it is totally undeveloped. You can sail down the Loch and see virtually nothing but beautiful mountains. It is amazing, it is one of the most famous landmarks in the world, and yet it is entirely unspoiled (you can easily imagine what a place like that would turn into in the US — condos and t-shirt vendors). So that picture stuck with me because it reminded me of my trip and the beautiful country and how wonderful it is to see someplace so lovely and unspoiled.


Jay is a wife, mom, blogger, and cat wrangler. She is an avid reader and lover of beaches, lazy days, and all things chocolate and peanut butter. Jay loves m/m romance and has been reading the genre for about 5 years. She averages about 4 books a week and loves to tjoyfully jay bookalk about them with readers! When not devouring books (and chocolate & PB) Jay is busy with her blog, Joyfully Jay. Joyfully Jay reviews all subgenres of m/m romance, as well as some other GBLT romance and romantic fiction, running about 20 reviews per week, as well as daily guest posts from a variety of authors.