It’s amazing to realize the Delectable Series has eight stories, including the two bonus editions. Though each one is a standalone, there are a few characters who cross into other stories briefly. I’m thinking it might be time for more interaction between the couples. What characters would you like to see meet in a future story? Who would you like to know more about?

Don’t forget, the royalties from An Extra Helping of Gingerbread go to Family Builders, an organization that helps LGBTQ foster kids find safe loving homes. It was inspired by the issues I learned about while researching the foster care system during the writing of Gingerbread Palace.

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Word Counts – Today: 0 | December: 0 | 2014: 0

It’s been pouring here in Northern California. We’re in a drought situation, so we really need it, but it’s no fun driving in the rain. I love hearing the rain on the roof when I’m snug and warm at home.

Of course extreme weather can offer some nice opportunities for romance. I have a scene in Rarer Than Rubies where the main characters are stuck in a little hut during a monsoon rain. Talk about setting the mood. It worked perfectly for Trent and Reed–it was their first time together, way back when.  In Snow Job, my two boys are stuck in a cabin for Christmas when the power goes out and they have to keep each other warm. Then Zack and Monty go a few steps farther and it’s sizzling!

What kind of weather do you think makes the best setting for romance, and why? Leave a comment for a chance  to win a copy of your choice of Rarer Than Rubies (hot in Thailand) or Snow Job (Christmas in a cold climate).

NOTE: Please give the poll widget below a moment to load in your browser so you can vote!

Word Counts – Today: 0 | December: 0 | 2014: 0

I got a lot of entries for the title contest for Precious Gems Series book 4.

Thanks to everyone who submitted a name. After brainstorming with beta readers, I’ve got some new options and selected the most relevant of the entries from the blog and Facebook. (Expect an email if you won a prize)

So, now it’s time to vote.

And there is a giveaway here too.  First, vote in the poll. Then, leave a comment telling me which title you like best. I’ll randomly select at least one commenter to win an e-book from my backlist.

Read the blurb, then select the best titles that fit with the blurb, not just the best-sounding title.

Reed Acton has something more difficult to face this time around: a visit from Trent Copeland’s parents. He’s less equipped to handle hugs and holidays than the Taliban or international art thieves. When he’s assigned a case to track down a set of gold Babylonian artifacts looted from the Iraqi National Museum after the 2003 fall of Baghdad, things start to look up. The investigation takes him and Trent to Istanbul and then to an army base on US soil where Reed has to confront the worst demons from his past–his own parents–in order to find out which soldiers have been selling off the smuggled items.

Word Counts – Today: 0 | October: 0 | 2014: 0

It’s the end of September. You’ve got about a month until NaNoWriMo starts. Seems like plenty of time, right? Some of you are wondering why I’m already talking about NaNo when it doesn’t even start until November 1.

Because writing and finishing a book takes more than just the 30 days you’re planning to spend working on it during November. If this is your first time considering doing NaNoWriMo, or you’ve tried before and didn’t quite make your 50k, stay tuned because I’ll be sharing with you my tips, advice and some tricks to help you be ready to start writing on November 1, and to get 50k (or a finished story) by November 30.

Take the quick poll below so I can see what your biggest concerns are about participating. I’ll be addressing as many of these as I can before and during November, to help you hit 50k.

What makes me an expert, you may be asking. And that’s a great question. I’ve been doing NaNo for about ten years now, and have hit the 50k goal every year. Most years I’ve finished an even longer novel by November 30. And these novels have been contracted and released by a publisher—not self-published. (Bound for Trouble was my 2013 NaNo project.)

I’ve collected the worksheets and techniques I use for developing a novel into an easy-to-use novel planning kit, How to Be a NaNoWriMo Winner.

Giveaway: Leave a comment for the chance to win a copy of my book How to Be a NaNoWriMo Winner

Word Counts – Today: 0 | September: 0 | 2014: 0

I’m going to confess something to you today: I would rather re-read The Hunt for Red October than just about anything on the romance best-seller lists. Since I write gay romance for a living, it may surprise you to hear (or read) that I never really liked reading romances.

As a thank you to the fantastic fans who have liked the Precious Gems series page on Facebook, I’m offering an exclusive special short for each 100 fans we add to the page. I want to write the stories you want to read, so please let me know with this little poll.

New to Precious Gems? Check out Rarer Than Rubies, Italian Ice and the upcoming Jaded–all from Dreamspinner Press.  [Series details]

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Now that Delectable book 3 An Intoxicating Crush is all done and galley-proofed, I’m turning my attention to future Delectable books. Who would you like to see as a main character? Please take my quickie poll. Feel free to write in an answer or leave a comment.

An American who goes to Japan to become a sushi chef? A private chef who wants to do more than cook for his employer? A chef who discovers he’s somehow falling for the Gordon Ramsey “fix-it” reality chef who’s brought in by the restaurant owner? Or would you like to read more about a couple in one of the earlier books in the series?

How about a combination of two characters listed in the poll? The possibilities are endless, which is why I need your help to focus my ideas.

[Leave a comment to be entered to win the e-book version of a title in the series]

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I’m still porting over pages and adjusting image sizes, but I think the new layout and theme are a huge improvement over the old website. It was too difficult to update and I didn’t like the colors and images very much.

Using WordPress was an easy decision but it took a while to find a good theme and decide how to organize the contents. It was so much easier when I only had a few titles. Now with over 20 published titles and more on the way, this should be much easier to maintain.

Please free to leave a comment with any pages or information you could not find and I’ll do my best to fix it quickly. Thanks!

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