desert crossing (a story)

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What’s Going On

So a bunch of cool things is going on right now and I will just fill you in quick.

The first thing is that Dreamspinner Press has a BIG sale going on right now! In honor of ebook week, Dreamspinner Press is offering 20% off on all titles. Rush right over there.

In something fun for me, I have PAPERBACK copies of the anthologies Riding Double (with my story The Real Thing) and Never Say Never (with my story Secret Valentine).

There is something incredibly exciting about holding a book in your hands and knowing you are in it. That your story is right there, before you eyes. Thrilling experience! I recommend it highly.

And the anthology This is the Way the World Ends with my vampire story should be out soon – in paperback!

I recently submitted a story called How Can Love Be Wrong? to Dreamspinner for their 2011 Daily Dose “First Time for Everything.” I am proud of this story, more than you can know, and hope to tell you soon that they bought it! I wrote a version of this story years ago and loved it and never sold it and couldn’t figure out why. Dug it out and gave it a good honest read and SAW why! LOL! It needed work. To be fair to me, the biggest problem with the story was the word count contraint set forth by gay magazines. I had to leave so much out and focus on sex. Not what I like to do. That concept is why I stopped writing for a decade.

Well, now the story is over three times as long! I added over ten thousand words and WOW – I think it is much better. A pre-review said it was now a “Cracking good read,” which I think is a good thing. Aussie slang!

I am hard at work on a story about a Dude Ranch and I think it may very well be the best thing I’ve ever written. I will keep you informed as it progresses.

Next is that Desert Crossing is on Dreamspinner’s novella best selling list! *does the Snoopy Dance*

Not only that, but it got an amazing review over at Jessewave, just one of the best M/M review sites there is. Feliz had some great things to say that just had me so happy it was hard to believe. WONDERFUL! The reviewer knew point by point everything I wanted and needed to say in that story and it was incredibly rewarding to know that I must have said it or he wouldn’t have gotten it, right? *G*

Thank you Feliz!

You can read that review by clicking right here or this copy of the review by clicking here

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What Women Want: Gay Male Romance Novels

The website Globe and Mail has published a fascinating article on M/M romances. One of the things that excited me was that my story Desert Crossing is one of the covers featured in the article! Which is funny, because the article is about heterosexual women writing gay romances, but who cares? It’s advertising. And it is an amazing article. Check it out…

What Women Want: Gay Male Romance Novels
Elio Iannacci
From Saturday’s Globe and Mail
Published Friday, Feb. 11, 2011 5:01PM EST
Last updated Friday, Feb. 11, 2011 7:03PM EST

Trends in contemporary popular fiction can be as unpredictable as fashion fads. Nobody expected, for instance, that the gloomy, bespectacled Harry Potter would help resuscitate the ailing book industry any more than Lady Gaga’s bizarre looks would help motivate retail sales. Yet today’s newest publishing trend is as out in left field as Potter and Gaga once were.

Over the past year, man-on-man romantic fiction – books featuring two male protagonists engaged in a sexual or emotional relationship with each other – has taken a significant bite out of one of publishing’s biggest markets. Amazon’s Kindle has had such success with the genre that the e-book site has tripled its “m/m” stock since January, 2010. Even Harlequin – the most profitable and old-fashioned romance fiction house in the world – has recently started to publish same-sex love stories via the company’s digital imprint, Carina Press. What’s most surprising, though, are the types of readers the books have hooked: Straight, married women are among the genre’s top fans. That may be because the authors, such as Iowa’s Heidi Cullinan, a 37-year-old suburban mother of two, are frequently heterosexual females, too. Cullinan has penned such recent works as the popular gay romance Double Blind and the homoerotic fantasy Miles and The Magic Flute. click to find out more

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Desert Crossing Cover – Part Two

So last night I got the Paul Richmond cover sketch for Desert Crossing and I am stunned.

I wish I could share it with you, but alas, at this time I am not allowed.

Needless to say it is an author’s dream. It is a scene right out of the story, near the beginning, and it is gorgeous.

I had one or two tiny little requests, and qualified them by the fact that I knew an artist knew better and if he wanted to ignore me, I was happy.

I have been very blessed with my covers and this is just another one.

It made me write more of my new story. For dreams of another wonderful cover!

I will post the cover soon!

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Paul Richmond to Paint New Cover!!

I got some amazing news the other day. The cover to my story Desert Crossing will be done by Paul Richmond! I am still stunned and amazed.

I’ve even exchanged an email or two with him and he is open to all kinds of input.

I am a big fan of his work and you should check out his website. He has actually done the “cover” work for two of the daily dose projects I’ve been a part of; Naughty or Nice and Midsummer’s Nightmare. Both of those pieces are spectacular!

I got all kinds of input and sometime soon I will get a sketch to comment on. He recommended that I send all my thoughts through Dreamspinner (I am sure it is for some kind of legal and editorial reasons), but he has my email address for more immediate concerns.

I will want to buy a print! I know I won’t be able to afford the original, but I can’t wait to see it. I can’t imagine that I will be disappointed. I have bought a number of books just because he did the cover. If covers sell books, his will sell Desert Crossing!

And since it is a Bittersweet Dreams novella, it’s need the help! LOL!
Bittersweet Dreams stories are the ones that have “nontraditional endings. It’s an unfortunate truth: love doesn’t always conquer all. Regardless of its strength, sometimes fate intervenes, tragedy strikes, or forces conspire against it. These stories of romance do not offer a traditional happy ending, but the strong and enduring love will still touch your heart and maybe move you to tears.”

I will tell you all that eventually, both characters (sequels in my head) have very very happy endings!

Check out Paul Richmond! His website is here: http://www.paulrichmondstudio.com/

Make sure you go to the section on “Printed Works” under his “Galleries” category. I just can’t wait! I get so excited I don’t know what to do!

Namasté,
Ben

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News About My Story “Desert Crossing”

Got some good news today!

First I should mention that I got an email from Dreamspinner Press the other day wanting to know my schedule over the next six to eight weeks because they would be sending me edits and a galley for my story Desert Crossing.

I was a little distressed because January is my annual required massive overtime at work. Theoretically, I could be working six days a week, 12 hours a day for the entire month of January. No way I can do edits and such then. I let them know.

To my surprise they are jumping my novella up a bit instead of delaying it! WOW! That’s pretty cool, eh? I really figured they would have to delay it a month or more, but instead they are rushing it so I have time to do my part!

What good news! This must mean something. They believe in me? In my writing? My stories?

This is a good year for me. I find I believe in myself more every single day!

And here is MORE very cool news!

There are two publishers looking for me to give them a submission for cowboy stories. I don’t know much about cowboys. I have researched them, but when it comes to gay cowboys, there really isn’t much information out there. Because of the Victorian times, it’s all speculation. And I know sh*t about contemporary cowboys except that cowboy boots help a man’s legs and ass as much as high heels help a woman’s.

SO! My friend who owns a small calving operation is taking me back to his place tonight (after drinking at a C&W bar *shudder*) and tomorrow is going to give me the tour of his place, let me see and touch real cows and tell me everything he knows about cattle and cattle breeding! Plus his own knowledge of the cowboys he and his lover like so much.

Now how cool is that? Think of the information I will glean that way! It really helps when you can get some kind of first hand experience with what you are writing about in order to give better feel and texture to a story. This is going to be cool and they are just as excited as I am!

Can life get much better than this?

Namasté,
Ben

PS: Dreamspinner Press is having a big sale on all their books through this weekend! So if they have a story of mine you’ve been thinking of buying, now it the time! It is like 15 to 20% off! (my math sucks) Check it out for any of their amazing books!