Day 9 Michael's 70K Bash Tara Lain

Good morning! I can recall one of my first guests here on Tabooindeed which seemed like an eon ago. It was Tara Lain who came on the blog to promo her book, Genetic Attraction. Since then, she's went on to write many more books and let me tell ya', she's awesome at what she does. More than that, Tara is one of the nicest people I've ever met. We had the pleasure of meeting at GRL in 2011. I look forward to meeting her again at the next one in Atlanta! Please welcome, Tara Lain!

My Favorite Kids!

Hi everyone! I’m so delighted to be here today and thankful to Michael for inviting me on this special occasion! BUT, asking an author to talk about her favorite book is worse that telling a parent to brag about their favorite child. After all, we usually have more books! So I ‘m taking the coward’s way out and I’ll share some things I particularly like in a few of my books.

I know Sharita loves The Scientist and the Supermodel and I agree! *Michael and Shar nod* Mostly, because I got to spend so much time with, I believe, one of my best heroes -- the supermodel, Roan Black. Roan is described as “the most beautiful man in the world”, but he is also gentle, kind and surprisingly wise for one so young. Roan appears in four of my books -- The Scientist and the Supermodel, Genetic Attraction,  Deceptive Attraction, and he plays a fairly significant role in Genetic Celebrity that came out the end of July.

I also adore Golden Dancer. When people ask me which book I’m most proud of, Golden Dancer often comes to mind. It was my first romantic suspense, but what I particularly like is the complex, multi-layered relationship between the three unlikely lovers -- Mac, the investigative reporter, Daniel, the billionaire art collector, and the amazing ballet dancer, Trelain. This book was voted best ménage of 2011 by the MM Romance group on Goodreads.

And I can’t forget Fire Balls -- my bestselling book and a high concept story that resonates with a lot of people. Fire Balls is a contemporary MM story that is loosely based on the trope of Cyrano de Bergerac -- the man who thinks he’s not worthy of his beloved and tries to fix him up with another.

And I must confess that one of my favorite books is one about to come out -- Snow Balls. Snow Balls is the story of a young man who looks like a big, handsome, football player but is actually a cream puff. He tries to be happy about who he is until he meets a tough cop who he wants so much to impress. He pretends to be the alpha male he thinks the cop wants.  This book comes out on December 7^th and I’m excited!

Would you like to win your own Balls Book? Just leave me a comment with your email and you can have your choice of Volley Balls, Fire Balls, or Beach Balls! (If you’ve read them all, we’ll work something out!)  Thanks so much for coming to say hi and thank you again to Michael for having me!

Excerpt Adult:  SNOW BALLS by Tara Lain; MM romance-- The Cop and the Creampuff

Available December 7^th from Amazon  ARe 

Big, handsome and hunky, JJ LaRousse looks like an alpha male but acts like an interior decorator. And he’s trying to be happy about it -- until a robbery at the famous Laguna Winter Fantasy brings JJ face-to-face with tough cop, Ryan Star. JJ hears Ryan likes guys who are manly men, so he drops his voice an octave, colors over his pink hair, and tries to pass as a football fan. Ryan Star may be tough but he hides in the closet at work since he learned in New York that being a gay cop can cost you your life. His attraction to that big, handsome kid threatens his anonymity, but he can’t seem to resist. JJ is just his type. But then JJ goes skiing and comes face to face with his greatest nemesis-- and all the secrets come out of the closet. Can Ryan love JJ for who he really is? More important, can JJ?

They were traveling at a good speed when Ryan pulled over to the second to the right lane. Odd for the speed demon. Ryan looked at JJ and then brought his hand across the console, found JJ’s zipper and, in one pull, had the whole thing down. Holy…before JJ could catch his breath, Ryan had dug into his fly, loosed the beast from its underwear cage, and was pumping JJ’s cock like he was giving it CPR. And he was, baby, because that hand could save a man’s life.

“Holy crap!” JJ threw his head back against the seat and tried to breathe. Hard and steady, the pumping action shot juice into his balls and straight up JJ’s spine.

Ryan chuckled and whispered in his growly voice, “You like that, big guy? Sometimes you just have to be creative to get what you want.”

That tricky devil. Choosing the lane where they could go slow and not have to deal with so much traffic. Of course, trucks would get an eyeful, but what the hell? Oh God, it felt so good. But no way was he getting all the goodies. JJ reached over an arm and unzipped Ryan.

The cop looked down with wide eyes. “You figure I have driving control of steel?”

“I trust you.” He stuck a hand inside and, holy moly… “You’re commando!”

“Yeah. I don’t like underwear much.”

“I’m not complaining.” JJ grabbed a nice, thick penis. “You’re packin’ there, detective.”

“Always prepared—holy shit!”

JJ grinned. He had big, strong hands and one was wrapped tight around Ryan’s rod. Stroke and stroke. The guy’s eyes widened, but he kept staring at the road. JJ watched his own hand pumping Ryan’s thick cock, then looked down into his lap where Ryan was starting a bonfire with JJ’s wood. This had to be the sexiest thing he’d ever seen. Probably the dumbest too, but right now he could care less. Driving down the freeway doing a double jerk-off. The smell of sex filled the car and went straight to JJ’s head. His hips danced under Ryan’s hand like they had their own mind.

Ryan made funny little noises. “Hunh, hunh.” But he kept his eyes glued to the freeway like it was his path in life. “Hunh, hunh.” His breath came faster and his hand in JJ’s lap pumped harder.

A big semi whizzed past in the right hand lane and JJ looked up at the driver. But the guy didn’t turn his head. Might have been fun if he had. Ryan’s hips pumped up just as much as his foot on the gas would allow. JJ didn’t have any such restriction and he was bobbing and weaving while lightning bolts of pleasure flashed through his cock with every stroke of Ryan’s hand.

Ryan took his hand off JJ’s cock and grabbed JJ’s pumping hand. “Hold on. Go slow or I’ll come and that could be very bad for my driving record.”

“OK.” JJ barely got the words out because Ryan’s hand was back on his cock.

“Just let me take care of you, big guy. It’s fun for me.”

“I think it’s way more fun for me.”

E-mail:                   tara@taralain.com

Website:              http://www.taralain.com

Author blog:       http://taralain.blogspot.com

Book blog:           http://beautifulboysbooks.blogspot.com

Goodreads:        http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4541791.Tara_Lain

Savvy Authors:  http://www.savvyauthors.com/vb/member.php?2398-Tara-Lain

Twitter:               http://twitter.com/taralain

Facebook:           http://www.facebook.com/people/Tara-Lain/100001514105686

FB Page:               http://www.facebook.com/taralain

Amazon:              http://www.amazon.com/Tara-Lain/e/B004U1W5QC/

B&N                       http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/Tara-Lain?keyword=Tara+Lain&store=book

ARe        http://www.allromanceebooks.com/storeSearch.html?searchBy=author&qString=Tara+Lain

The Next Big Thing...

Thanks to Stormie Kent for allowing me to participate with her for this interesting promotion!

Please view her blog here. 

Here's ten questions I'm supposed to answer about my next book, Under the Gun two.

What is your working title of your book?

Under the Gun Hardy and Day, the second book in the Under the Gun series. 

Where did the idea come from for the book?

I wanted to write a private investigator series involving a male couple, running the PI business and having fun in the process. Considering they’re both alphas and addicted to sex, this should be interesting. *grins* 

What genre does your book fall under?

M/M mystery suspense

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

Oh how funny is THIS question. Former porn star David Taylor and Tyson Beckford are my muses. 

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Camryn Hardy and Malik Day attempt to stay focus on the case despite their raging hormones. 
Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

No it’s a series. I will be sending it to my pub, No Boundaries Press. 

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

Haven’t wrote it as if the time of this blogpost. It’s my NanoWrimo book! ;) 

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

There’s a story by Evangeline Anderson called the Assignment about two detectives who are asked to play a couple to catch a criminal. 

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

When I wrote Camdyn and Malik in the first book, they wanted a full series showing the cases they took on as partners in love and work. 

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

I’d hope the readers would love to read about two entirely different men, from different backgrounds, working, living, and sleeping together and the trials they face. It’s got 3 more books so far. *smiles*

***
Hope you enjoyed that.

I'll be tagging some friends on this same post next Monday so make sure you come back for that!

If Under the Gun one piques your interest, please view here.

Here are my wonderful friends who are posting their next big thing



Kharisma Rhayne - http://www.kharismarhayne.com/

CassandreDayne - http://cassandredayne.wordpress.com/

Sara York - http://sarayork.blogspot.com/

MA Church - http://machurch00.blogspot.com/

Julie Lynn Hayes - http://julielynnhayes.blogspot.com/

Nano UPDATE Day 10!

Good morning! So, how am I doing so far? Very well! I'm over the 20k mark at Under the Gun and ahead of schedule as far as finishing the book. 

Looks like it should be finished by Sunday, at the latest Monday. No, I'm not writing 25k in the next two days. *laughs* Shar decided to make Under teh Gun the book and do two shorts instead. 

Much to the chagrin of BL who wanted to get YDA two out, Shar concluded it would be better to do UTG by itself. 

I'ts coming along quite nicely with Camdyn and Malik enjoying their love and work partnership. Maybe even a little TOO much.

*waggles eyebrows*

When I'm done, Rawiya will write a short that should be about ten k and then I'll finish out the month with a shifter twin tale a dear reader asked me to do quite a while ago. 

It will be self pubbed as will Rawiya's story.

Keep watch on this space for more details!

Thursday Thoughts Fun With a Gun!

Good Morning! This is the gay male muse Michael Mandrake with a guest post. Instead of blogging about writing how about something different. Like my subject matter? As you’ve probably noticed, I’ve sort of broken away from the ideas that my fellow muses use in their stories. My characters are comfortable with their sexuality and instead, the “gay” in the tales is a mute point. I’m looking to create stories that are more of a mainstream variety. On my plate, I have a noir story, a suspenseful spy tale with a who killed who, and even an urban fantasy planned with a demon who focuses on one particular man and makes him live and relive a nightmare in order to get him in bed.

In my book Under the Gun, I’m pushing boundaries with an erotica romance about two men who have an interesting fetish. It’s only the sidebar, since the tale centers on the characters each searching for a partner, one for a lover and a business associate. Under the Gun is a start to the series Hardy and Day, a collection of adventures where Malik and Camdyn are private investigators, finding out different information on their clients whether its cheating spouses or potential employees with hidden secrets. While they investigate, they build a loving relationship, exploring all possibilities as well as play a wicked game with their favourite toy.

Being a new writer, I had to do some research about guns and I continue that for this story as well as Closely Guarded, my spy novel. The parts of it, what kinds a PI is allowed to carry as well as licenses. The first book doesn’t delve into the use of them but it does give you the insight into what Camdyn and Malik love to do. It was a true departure for me since the sex and or romance is never the most exciting part of the story. For this one though, I enjoyed tapping into my inner kink and pushing the boundaries for their first love scene.

How appropriate my publisher for this series is called, No Boundaries. Have a look at the cover blurb and excerpt. 

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.

When he made it to the office, he signed the necessary papers and waited as the man finished his transaction. Lazily, he leaned on the counter and nonchalantly glanced at a hot looking man that stood less than twenty feet away. Malik grinned and moistened his lips in the gorgeous stranger’s direction.

Damn.

The attractive guy gave him more than an eye and winked. Obviously, he plays on my team. His lush brown-and-blond hair barely kissed his shoulders. Beautiful azure eyes the same color as the Pacific. Lips so slim and kissable, Malik knew he could enjoy them for hours. Wicked visions crossed his mind as he eyed the scruff on the man’s cheeks. He liked a little roughness when making love.

The snug, black shirt fit well, hugging his bulging muscles. Malik eyed the ink that peeked from under one sleeve and salivated. His skinny, black jeans clung to his taut buttocks; Malik’s own trousers felt a little tight in the crotch. “Mhmmm.” Malik tried to keep his stares from being obvious to the clerk. 

Would the hot man like to play with him a little? Malik sure hoped so.

It had been a long while since his last fuck. He’d spent the time searching for employment, going to job fairs, and not getting any call backs. Malik had remained so focused on getting a job; he’d ignored the signals of his groin needing a release from other than his own hand. Too long. He headed for the door and wished the handsome man would follow.

Maybe it’s time to stop looking for work and attempt to find a man.

Just when he stepped out, a voice stopped him. 

“Hey.”

Malik slowly turned around. It was indeed him, the hottie he’d been eyeing. It shocked Malik to see the guy was actually speaking to him. “Hello.” Malik was taken aback by the guy speaking to him, but he guessed he warranted a greeting when they exchanged more than a passing glance.

The man stepped closer to him and held out his hand. “Name’s Camdyn. And you are?”

“Malik.” He accepted the handshake and returned it firmly. “Nice to meet you.” He raised an eyebrow.

“Same here.” Malik noticed Camdyn continued to hold on to his palm. Of course he didn’t mind; it felt unexpectedly soft and warm. “Um, you been comin’ here a while?”

“Yeah, I um…” Malik stopped short and bit his lip. He tried not to sound too excited. This was the last place he’d expected to be picked up at. The shooting range? Malik would’ve never thought of this place to meet other gay men. 

“I been around, but I just got back in town.”

“Yeah? I’m guessin’ from the getup you served in the Army.”

“Uh huh… I um… yeah, let’s go outside.” Quickly, he pulled his hands away, even though he didn’t want to. Surely, he wanted to talk with Camdyn some more, but away from others coming in and out of the shop. He felt a little uncomfortable being picked up at some place so manly, but in a way, he liked it. 

Thursday Thought - How to SURVIVE Nano!

What you need to do to SURVIVE Nano!

Good morning readers! Wow, I’ts been a while since I had a Thursday Thought but here it is, the tips I think you need to survive NaNoWriMo.

First off, some of you may ask, what is that? Well, the head, Shar will tell you a little at BL’s today. Hop on over there once you get done reading me. *grins*

In short, it’s writing a 50K novel in 30 days. Whoa, that’s a lot of words right? However, when you break it down, it’s only 1667 words per day. That’s it? Yep. Some can do that in their sleep. For others it’s a struggle especially when they have families, jobs, and other responsibilities that take them away from Nanoing. Luckily, I’m just the muse and I won’t have to worry about that, but since Shar is conveying mine and then BL’s thoughts on paper, she might need to follow these guidelines:

1.    Explain to the family you’re doing something big!

Well, in the scheme of things for you it is. With significant others who are already used to the way their authors act when finishing any kind of story during the year, they know a lot of things might not get done. Oh like, cleaning up the house per say. Dinner might be a little late getting to the table and if it does, it might be takeout as opposed to a home cooked meal. Still, try and explain it to the family how you might be unavailable at some points. Try not to ignore them! Get them involved somehow. Shar talks the story over with her husband and asks him questions. Now this is not so easy with kids, especially when they’re babies or toddlers, which brings me to the next one.

2.    Try to write when the house is QUIET!

For Shar, she’ll do it after two or three a.m. when the family is asleep. If you get your word count of 1667 for the day then you have the rest of it to enjoy with the kids. You won’t be disturbed by them asking for food or to play because you’ve done the necessary words to stay on course.

3.    Don’t worry about huge editing mistakes and write EVERYDAY!

Some don’t correct ANYTHING and keep writing. For me and Shar however, each time we sit down to a story, we go over the last parts of what was written during the last session. Just basic mistakes like misspells, grammar or punction mistakes. Still, leave the overall editing where you might repeat yourself or miss a full description for when you go through the story later on. I hope if you’re planning on publishing that you’ll use several betas and or editors beforehand. Also, take the time to write everyday. Do sprints on Twitter with friends. Get together in person or virtually with other Nano writers. Take advantage of the forums on their site as well as forming your own group of friends to keep the focus!

4.    Take time to relax BEFORE, DURING, AND AFTER NANO.

I know in 2010 when Shar and I did African Sun, she was writing all year and even did a different challenge in December which proved detrimental in 2011. The first three months of that year, she had no real focus or determination to write. In 2011, she had several projects going on around November and we weren’t able to finish writing Closely Guarded. Now this year, Shar managed to get BL’s book done. As it stands, there are still only a couple of stories left unfinished because this year Shar had a different plan where she didn’t start any new stories.

She finished out the books for Rawiya and BL in the SNOTM series, the sequel to My Lieutenant, as well as Closely Guarded and Wild Horses. Now, Shar is relaxing her mind, only doing edits, blogposts, promoing, and no serious writing. Only fanfic and free reads for now. *grins* Additionally, during Nano the plan is to write early and leave the rest of the day to spend time with the kids and hubby as well as friends to take her mind off the story waiting on the laptop. Afterwards, Shar plans to take December only to write some fanfic and do revisions of Vertigo Two for me and finish Trois in Treble for Rawiya. Might also do a read with Rawiya for Xmas but she doesn’t want to burn out like she did in 2011. The key is to do other things and not get so worn out at the end of November.

5.    DON’T worry about making the 50k goal!

But wait Michael, you said I must write everyday! Still, stressing over it doesn’t help. Worrying about the goal only puts more pressure on yourself. I believe Shar did that last year. She kept telling herself she had to make it! Yes the write-ins are good and looking at the wordcounter, seeing that your close is fun but try not to immerse yourself in stress. You might just discourage us as muses and therefore make the characters in your story stop talking. Again, I say take time away from it. Don’t worry about others who may finish in fifteen days. Everyone works differently and at their own pace. If you didn’t do the 1667 today, try making it up on the weekends if time allows. The key is to not beat yourself up when you don’t get there. If the will and the story is there, you will do what is needed to make the goal.

6.    Lastly, make sure you have fun!   

Sure it’s a big deal to make the 50k! You get the little things to put on your blogs and you say, I survived and made it but the key is to enjoy the creation process. Sure it’s stressful but I think sprinting with others makes it even more enjoyable. Talking over your stories with fellow authors. Supporting one another and cheering each other on is fun too. To know that a large portion of the world is doing the same thing is very comforting. You’re not alone!

Take advantage of the tools and resources Nano gives you. Enjoy your time doing the challenge and in the end, you might have a finished product you can be proud of. In some instances, you could give it to a publisher to share with readers everywhere.Perhaps a bestseller? One can only hope.

I’m happy to be doing this again with Shar and I hope these 6 tips will help you succeed in your goal! I thank you for listening and enjoy he craziness that is Nano. If you’re not doing it, cheer those of us that are onto the finish line.