Winner of the Spring Fling Blog Hop

The winner of the 5GC and a book from my backlist is

*drum roll*

Lady Unwritten!

Big congrats

And the winner of the grand prize was Shirley Ann

Thanks to everyone who commented!

Frankie Choteau Character Interview

Blogtour stop number three is at the Wednesday Briefs site

http://wedbriefsfic.com/2014/02/24/i-love-it-rough-blogtour-stop-3-michael-mandrake/

Today I'm interviewing Frankie Choteau

Suicide Prevention Blog Hop

Greetings folks and welcome to the Suicide Prevention Blog hop. I had to join this one for a number of reasons, the most important one is my own personal experience with suicide and how it affected my family. 

A little over two years ago, my cousin Scottie took his own life. None of us knew the reason and he didn't leave a note. Needless to say the family was devastated about the news especially when the last time we'd had a family gathering he seemed to be just fine. 

Later that same year, I found out from my uncle that Scottie might've committed suicide because he was gay. Imagine the shock of me hearing this when I started writing gay romance and I consider myself a straight advocate for the gay community. Why would he do this? I might have been the only person in the family to help, other than his sister. Why didn't he come talk with me? Upon hearing this I was in tears. I'm not assuming I could've stopped him from doing it but maybe I could've been a source of comfort for him in this difficult time. 

After much indecision and wrangling with my own guilt, I knew I had to do something to honor my cousin's memory. We weren't very close because of the age difference but I still loved him and wished he were here with us again.

Early July I released a book under my name Michael Mandrake in his memory. I changed the names of him and his sister, giving him a guardian angel to stop him from from committing suicide and choosing life. I've received a few emails from fans on the book saying it made them cry and my uncle who told me Scottie's story is very proud of the work I'd done on this book. 

I've also been asked if Sammy will get his happy ending and the answer is yes. I've also written a short that was subbed under my other name Rawiya for an anthology done by Sara York and a full book is already in the works for readers to see Sammy get the happy ending he deserves. 

In the meantime, I'm doing what I can to help spread the message about how important it is to listen to our kids, no matter what age. Hear out their concerns, gay or not. Don't be quick to judge them and give them every opportunity to work things out on their own before interfering. Look for signs; withdrawal from family or friends, giving up things they love etc. These may be things to look out for. Ask them questions and like I said, don't be quick to judge. They need understanding, acceptance, and most importantly love. 

I'm glad to be part of this blog hop and hope this will help many to understand how serious suicide really is. Despite all the wonderful resources, the It Gets Better videos, Trevor Project, suicide rates especially among GLBT people are disturbingly high. Let's do what we can to help.

For every comment here I'll donate a dollar to the Trevor Project after the blog is said and done. Thanks for listening and please check out the other authors joining this awesome hop!

Winners for the HAHAT and I Like Em Pretty Blogtour!

Greetings readers,

I'd like to thank everyone who visited my blog for the HAHAT the past few days

So sorry I'm late announcing but I have a bunch of prizes to send out and wanted to announce them all at once so I could send them all at once.

Here are our winners from the Hop Against Homophobia and Transphobia

Day #1 Kimberly FDR Jewelry from ILEP

Day #2 Penumbra 5GC from Starbucks or Amazon

Day #3 Carolyn A GC with Swag

Day #4 Debby ILEP Jewelry

Day #5 Laurie Peterson Swag and book from backlist

Also the winner of the grand prize from the ILEP tour this month 

Meghan! Woot

She wins a box full of prizes including:

A New Orleans Tee from Kenina

A coffee cup from Frankie

A necklace from Vance

Copy of Magic Mike From Kajika & Naomi

15 Starbucks GC from Orrin

Beads from Shar and Michael

Also, the winning blog for a jewelry item is

Melissa Kendall

http://mkendallauthor.blogspot.com.au/2013/05/spotlight-i-like-em-pretty-by-michael.html

Thanks so much to all who commented! 

I'll be doing another big giveaway for ILEP at the end of June with a similar prize to the blogtour. 

Stay tuned!

TRR GLBT Blog Hop feat Rawiya

Good morning readers. Welcome to the TRR GLBT blog hop! This hop runs from Sept 27th-30th 

I'm excited to be hosting sister muse Rawiya since her newest book Sugar Daddy, number 4 in the Something New on the Menu series from NNP was just released. 

Why do I love Rawiya's book? I love her characters. Antwon Bantu is a very mature sexy man looking for a lifetime partner while Matthew Davidison is a young man also searching for someone to love him and take care of him.

The wonders of the internet bring them together but here is the tension. There's some secrets between them to be revealed. Will this tear them apart?

Love it!

Here is the blurb and an exciting except!

Something New on the Menu Series Book Four

Sugar Daddy

Rawiya

Blurb: Matthew Davidson wants a MAN! The setting shifts away from the America’s to Britain where Matthew and his childhood friend, Devon Peartly attend a cooking school to obtain their cooking certificates. The young man wants a partner so badly, he decides he’ll try an online dating service in hopes of finding a black man that can take care of and satisfy him romantically.

He finds that man, Antwon Bantu on an online dating site and is instantly intrigued. Little does Matthew know that Antwon is involved in a “convenient” marriage and is seeking a younger partner so he can finally get on with his life. Instead of confessing the truth, he decides to hide it, fearing he’ll lose the chance with Matthew if he informs him. To complicate things, Antwon’s wife claims to be in love with him. Antwon must choose what’s more important; loving Matthew or saving his impeccable reputation as a top barrister in the London courts?

Which will he choose?

In this scene, Matthew is expecting a called from Antwon and can’t help but be nervous.

After school, Matthew did everything he could think of to keep himself busy until nine pm. He cleaned, did all his homework, cooked dinner, and talked Devon into leaving for the evening even though his good friend wanted to stay and hear the conversation. He couldn’t wait to hear that voice. Just thinking about the rich deep tone made his hardened muscle swell underneath his sweats. “Damn, what time is it?”

Nearly eight thirty; just a half an hour till he’d hear the voice of his potential new man. It didn’t matter if he wasn’t into Caucasians at the moment. Matthew assured himself he’d make Dlovr change his mind very quickly.

Matthew went into his room, trying to relax and get his wits about him. He lay on the bed he’d just made up, holding the phone in his overly busy hands. “Damnit, I’m so nervous.”

It had been awhile since he was this overjoyed about talking to someone new.

He just has to be the one.

All the signs pointed to him being the one he’d been searching for, with the only tiny detail being his preference for black or Latino. Nothin’ against men of the colored variety but I’m quite entertaining.

Gripping his cell tightly, he smiled to himself and stared at the screen. What would Dlover sound like? Matthew hoped he’d have a deep voice like Barry White, along with a slow hand. “Mhph.” A face like Denzel wouldn’t hurt! Although Matthew did say that looks didn’t matter that much, he had to wonder if Dlover was at least an average looking bloke. What if he’s butt ugly but real sweet? Just the thought made Matthew shudder. “We’ll cross that bridge when I see the picture.” He bit his lip and placed the handset face down in his lap. “C’mon nine o’clock.” This waiting period made Matthew even more uncomfortable. One by one, he began biting his nails on one hand while the other fidgeted with his curls. All kinds of what ifs ran through his brain. What if I’m not able to sway him? What if he’s pissed when he sees I’m not the man in the photo? What if he is butt ugly? Matthew shook his head and sighed. This had to be the longest half hour of his life. “Maybe I should call him, maybe…”

Jarred from his deep thoughts, Matthew nearly jumped out his skin when his phone blared the simple ring tone. His palms slightly moist, he wiped them on his trousers. Attempting to relax, he took a deep breath, and pressed the green button. “Hello?”

“Hi there, is this Choco?”

Matthew grinned and drew up his lips. A slight bit of guilt came over him. Choco eyes and hair but not skin. “Yes it is, is this Dlover?”

“It is indeed. How are you?” The smile came through the headset making Matthew’s smile grow wider. Not quite Barry White but still sexy. He licked his lips and propped his cell on his shoulder. “I’m good. My name is Matthew by the way. And yours?”

Silence then the voice came through once more. “Antwon. It’s good to talk to you, Matthew. I have to say I’ve been looking forward to this.”

“Yeah me too.” Making himself comfortable on the couch, he shifted and stretched his long legs out over the coffee table. “I have to be honest, I’ve been quite nervous about talking with you all day.”

“Same here. Maybe we could calm each other down. It’s not like we’re meeting one another in person… yet.”

The last part of that statement caused Matthew’s heart to skip a beat. Yeah they weren’t meeting but what would occur when they did?

Hopefully he’ll still like what he sees.

Amazon, Are, Smashwords

Check out the rest of the series here on Amazon

RAWIYA is the more sensual erotica writer in the BLRawiya duo. Rawiya's first sole author book, “Time to Make the Donuts” is now available in multiple digital formats through online vendors and her first MMF Living In The Now was released in April from Naughty Nights Press.
Rawiya loves multiracial characters who overcome obstacles other than race. Sweet, sassy, and spicy would be the best way to describe her work. Happily married mother of two, loves music, computers, and travel. She blogs regularly at Wicked Sexy Writers. For more please visit the Rawiya’s blog on Wordpress.

Also, please check out my latest book from No Boundaries Press:

No Boundaries

Amazon

All Romance

Barnes and Noble

Camdyn Hardy is a former cop who has his own private investigator business. Due to a misunderstanding from a client, he gets into an argument with his lover Tay. Right after, they breakup Camdyn is left alone to think about his future as a PI and his love life.

                                   

Malik Day was recently discharged under the DADT policy and is looking to get his life on track The main reason he joined was because he dreamed of being a ranking officer. Now that it’s been taken away, he desires to start his life anew and find someone to share it with.

After two weeks the men meet at a shooting range and find out they have a lot in common. Once they engage in a one on one match, they proceed to a bar to have drinks and get to know one another better.  They both discover their affinity for guns as well as Camdyn’s need for a new partner at Camdyn & Associates. Malik is intrigued but afraid to ask him and decides to wait till they are closer. Camdyn is excited about this prospect as well but waits for Malik to say the word. Finally, in an erotic encounter, true feelings are revealed.

In subsequent books, the story continues where the twosome begin their work and love relationship. Together they’ll take on cases investigating cheating husbands or wives, companies with defector employees all the while trying to maintain their newfound commitment to one another as well as having a little fun in the process.

*Comment and win a copy of both books!

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