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.

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. 

Fat Ladies and Swans Sing

My life as a book reviewer at All About Romance, Booklist, and The Romance Reviews has come to an end. 

I pulled the plug a couple of weeks ago when it suddenly occurred to me that if I was going to fulfill my lifelong dream of becoming a published author, I needed to stop reading so much and start writing.

I'm sure to most people this sounds like common sense, but obviously I had to come to this astounding conclusion the long, painful way.

Truth be known, Dreamspinner Press can take a little credit for my decision.  I signed a contract with them for my novella, "What's in a Name?," to be published right after the first of the year.  It seemed like a conflict of interest that I was reviewing some of their books after signing the contract.

So after kicking the review habit and vowing to work on my fiction writing career, I also contacted my former colleague and friend Shawn Hansen and will be getting together with her in the near future to see what she has to offer as far as promotion is concerned, not only for the novella, but also for the first book in the Vampire's Food Chain series.

But what about the Swan Song, you ask.

A core collection list of gay and lesbian romance novels has gone public in the September 15, 2014, issue of Booklist.  I suggested running a list of "must have" books to editor Donna Seaman earlier this year, and she took my list of 15 proposed titles, whittled it down, added lesbian romances, and voila! a list was born.

While I Was Vacationing

Becca and cover model
 C. J. Hollenbach
at the RT Convention

I took the last week off and went to Pacific Grove, home of the wintering Monarch butterflies, next door to Monterey, California.  While there is a sandy beach where families and surfers play, what draws me is the rockier coastline, the small furry creatures, and the beautiful, endless waves.

Usually I try to do no work at all, but this time I had three review books to read--all for Booklist this time.  I've also decided to write a short story to submit for an upcoming Dreamspinner anthology, so I spent most of the time breathing in the sea breezes, reading, and writing.

In the meantime, here in cyberspace, my articles and reviews were being published.  Instead of writing blog pieces about them individually, I'm listing each of them here:

All About Romance ran both Surviving the Convention, my account of the Romantic Times convention in May and a blog piece, From the Review's Studio, about why I chose to review gay romances and how I choose the books to review.

Booklist also ran my account of the RT Convention in the Likely Stories book blog under the headline Gay Romance Comes Out at the Romantic Times Convention.  Also, my review of Jude Deveraux's From All Time ran in the July 2014 e-copy of the magazine.

The Romance Reviews ran my review of Missed Connections: I Swear to You.

So even though I wasn't at home, my week away was very busy online.

Two Hanukkah Tales

Yesterday two review sites featured my reviews.  Today The Romance Reviews is featuring two of my reviews of Hanukkah stories.  Both are by Dreamspinner Press, and I'm still trying to figure out why these stories are included in Dreamspinner's Advent Calendar.  Maybe I'm wrong, but I think Advent is a purely Christian concept.  So why are Jewish holiday stories included?  Or why isn't the Advent Calendar called something like the Holiday Calendar?

Anyway, the two novellas that I review on the TRR site are both nice, "awwww"-inspiring tales.

In Bashert by Gale Stanley, a Jewish Penn State freshman is having religious doubts and meets up with a Jewish grad student who celebrates Hanukkah with him.  The word bashert translates as "destiny" or "soul mate" which I think is a little presumptuous for this particular story.  Just because two people click for eight days doesn't mean they're destined for each other.  I don't think because someone is Jewish (or Roman Catholic, or Southern Baptist, or any other religion for that matter), he will automatically become a soul mate of a person who practices that same religion.  Isn't more necessary to make someone a soul mate?  My answer's yes.

In Another Life by Cardeno C., on the other hand, is a strange riff on It's a Wonderful Life.  Instead of seeing what life would be like if he weren't born, the Jewish 18-year-old who is committing suicide sees what life would be like if he lived.  Hanukkah is mentioned in the story, but isn't a focal point like it is in Bashert, so calling this a holiday novella is stretching the point as far as it'll go.

But the author's use of humor in an otherwise grim tale makes the story likable.  As holiday stories go, however, it falls very short, making me wonder why it was included in the Advent Calendar.

Two Review Day

Well, this is a first: Two of my reviews are featured on two different online sites.  Wow.

On the upside is Toy Run by Charley Descoteaux, one of Dreamspinner's Advent stories.  I opted to read three of the stories, and two of them turned out to be about Hanukkah, which even though it's celebrated over a number of days isn't really considered Advent material.

No matter.  Descoteaux's short story is a wonderfully cute mix of bikers, toys for children, and comfort and joy--all the ingredients for a happy holiday season.  It also includes three dogs, two bars, and rain and sleet in Oregon.  What's not to like, right?

The downside of the reviews is Brad Vance's A Little Too Broken, which should have been a spectacular story, but veered off into sex before settling the more important issues Vance tackles--double amputation, service dogs, HIV-positive lifestyle, and PTSD.  Somehow deciding how the protagonists will manage to have meaningful sex takes precedence over the more important details of how they will order their lives in order to live together for a few days, much less a lifetime.

If Vance decides to rework his novella, I'd love to reread it.  I hate to see potential like this go to waste.