Nano, Nano Time

Yup, it's that time of year again.  I've said for years that the second Shawn book is on its way.  But then other projects have taken over.  In fact, during my illness in October, I edited my forthcoming Dreamspinner Press novella, "What's in a Name?" and worked with a cover artist to come up with a cover.  No original writing was done--which is really frustrating.

However, in November, I plan to finish Devil's Food, the sequel to The Vampire's Food Chain.  If nothing else, Nano will be the pinch on the butt to get me moving for another 70,000 words or so.  Maybe this time I'll query Tor, something else I promised myself I'd do--and never did.

Murder on the Mountain, a Cure for a Cold?

2014 Reading Challenge:

October 15 - Paranormal or romantic suspense

Murder on the Mountain by Jamie Fessenden

Rating: 5 star

October has been a heck of a month.  I caught a cold while in Arizona at the end of September.  By the first of October, I was really ill, coughing and gasping and generally feeling awful.  By October 15, I was ready to give up since the cold seemed only to get worse, not better.

I went to the doctor, the first time I'd been out of the house since October 1.  She prescribed meds.  I took and am taking the meds.  What?  I'm not over the "cold"?  Nope.  And I still haven't been out or wanted to go out for nearly a month now.

So what have I been doing?

Reading, reading, reading.

When I finally realized I hadn't written my Reading Challenge review for October, I looked at the dozens of titles I've read since getting sick.

Jamie Fessenden's Murder on the Mountain is the perfect choice since it's equal parts romance and murder mystery.  In a nutshell, the story revolves around the death of a tourist on Mt. Washington in New Hampshire, author Fessenden's state of residence and the setting of most of his books.

Aspiring mystery writer Jesse Morales finds the body of Stuart Warren, his head bashed in, and wheedles his way into helping solve the case when Kyle Dubois and his partner Wesley Roberts show up to investigate.  Widowed Kyle is attracted to Stuart, but doesn't act on the sparks flying between them because he's surprised at his attraction to another man.

Fessenden, who writes with a down-to-Earth style, captures readers' attention not only from his loving descriptions of Mt. Washington but also from his deft handling of Jesse, Kyle and Wesley's initial surprise and then acceptance of Kyle's homosexuality.  In addition, Fessenden adds his signature droll sense of humor, particularly in the seasoned cops' response to Jesse's eagerness to help solve the case.

I've enjoyed reading Fessenden's previous books, and this one was no exception.  While my favorite is still Screwups, I'd put this book as a very close second.

 

Good going, Kirkus and All About Romance!

This article posted on Kirkus today is a real sign of the times.  Publishers Weekly posted a article about gay romance by author Damon Suede in 2013, and then I wrote a short blog piece for Booklist about the enthusiastic response to gay romances at the recent RT convention in May.

Also, All About Romance is running a weekly column about gay romance through the month of October.  Today's column is about gay historicals.

All of this is wonderful to see.