Coming Soon - Lights and Sirens

Lights and Sirens, the second in my Emergency Services series that began with Two Man Station, is out on September 13. 

Paramedic Hayden Kinsella is single and the life of the party. He likes driving fast and saving lives, and he doesn’t do relationships—he does hookups. Except he wouldn’t hook up with copper Matt Deakin if he were the last guy on the planet. Hayden thinks the feeling is mutual . . . until clearing the air leads to a drunken one-night stand, which leads to something neither of them was expecting: a genuine connection.

Police officer Matt Deakin moved to Townsville to take care of his elderly grandfather. In between keeping an eye on Grandad, renovating his house, and the demands of his job, he somehow finds himself in a tentative relationship with Hayden and very slowly gets to know the damaged guy beneath the happy-go-lucky persona.

But the stressors of shift work, fatigue, and constant exposure to trauma threaten to tear Hayden and Matt apart before they’ve even found their footing together. In the high-pressure lives of emergency services workers, it turns out it’s not the getting together part that’s hard, it’s the staying together.

You can pre-order Lights and Sirens by following the universal book link and selecting your store of choice: books2read.com/lightsandsirens

And you can follow the blog tour here (for the chance to win an Amazon gift card and a box of goodies!) at the following stops: 

9/13	Joyfully Jay
9/13	Gay Book Reviews
9/14	Love Bytes Reviews
9/15	Boy Meets Boy Reviews
9/16	MM Good Book Reviews
9/17	Bayou Book Junkie
9/17	The Novel Approach

An excerpt from The California Dashwoods - coming in May

Back in 2016 (?) I got an email from the awesome team at Riptide, asking me if I wanted to be a part of their Classics Queered series, and, if so, which Austin novel did I want to rewrite? And my answer, no question, was Sense and Sensibility. I know that a lot of other people prefer Pride and Prejudice, but for some reason Sense and Sensibility has always resonated more for me. My sister and I argue about this all the time--yes, we're literature nerds. So I was so, so happy to be given the chance to tackle Sense and Sensibility, and put a new twist on a favourite classic. 

The Dashwoods in the 1995 movie - mine are a little different!

The California Dashwoods, my take on a modern Sense and Sensibility, is due out on May 28 -- and I'll be sharing preorder links and cover art as soon as I get them! For now though, since I've finished line edits, I thought this would be a perfect time to share an excerpt! 

In this scene, Abby (Mrs. Dashwood) and Elliott (Elinor in the original) are figuring out where they can go once Abby's terrible in-laws through them out of Norland Park: 

“Do you remember John?” Abby asked. “Not John John. My cousin John.”

Elliott sucked jam off his finger. “John in California?”

“He lives in a little town called Barton Lake. He has a store there. It’s where I met your father, actually. He and the Family were there for the summer, and they wanted an au pair for John. John John, not cousin John. I thought, well, I can make more money looking after some spoiled little snot-nosed rich-kid brat than I can doing chalk drawings on the pavement, and—” She cut herself off with a laugh. “And the rest is history.”

Elliott saw the moment her expression shifted from gentle grief into something sharper. He reached out and caught her hand. “Cousin John?” he prompted.

Abby shook herself. “He emailed me last night. He’s got an apartment above his store that he’s happy to let us have. And, if we work a few shifts in the store, he’ll let us have it rent-free. Utilities only. It’s two bedrooms, so it’s going to be a squeeze, but we’ll find a way to make it work, won’t we?”

Four of them in a two-bedroom apartment sounded like a disaster, actually. Abby and Marianne, despite being two peas in a pod—or perhaps because of it—locked horns a lot, and Greta was at the age where she needed her own space to storm off to. It wasn’t ideal, but it was a hell of a lot better than the prospect of living in the car. And it was a starting point, right? A roof over their heads while they figured out their next move.

“What’s the catch?” Elliott asked.

Abby smiled at him and squeezed his hand. “There’s no catch, baby. This is what families do.” She raised her eyebrows. “Well, families that aren’t the Dashwoods.”

Elliott quirked his mouth in a wry smile.

That was certainly true. The Dashwood Family was less like a family and more like a corporation. He wondered what Alexander Dashwood, flying his kites and dreaming his dreams, would have thought about the true legacy he’d left. A legacy of lawyers at every family gathering, of board meetings instead of birthdays, and of looping signatures on contracts instead of Christmas cards. A legacy of scheming sycophants who relied on the family trust for income and spent their lives cozying up to the trustees—Cynthia and Great Uncle Montgomery among them—to keep the money coming.

The Dashwoods really were so awful that it was as easy to reject them on an emotional level as it was to be rejected by them. Practically though . . . Well, enough money to get the girls through school and college would be nice. Elliott just needed to convince John to make that happen somehow. John was under no legal obligation—the Family lawyers had made sure that Abby and her children were in line for absolutely nothing—but John wasn’t as bad as the rest of them. John was their brother. Except there was also no guarantee that John would have any influence with the rest of the Family.

Elliott thought of the space above the fireplace where the Naked Blue Lady had hung.

“California might be nice,” he said at last, when what he really meant was that California might be necessary.

Abby smiled and squeezed his hand again.

Coming Soon: The Preacher's Son

J.A. Rock and I have a new book coming out this month: The Preacher's Son. It starts off with a quite dark premise--betrayal--and then focuses on the journey back from that towards a relationship built on healing and on hope. It's definitely one of our more emotionally weighty books, and we hope that you like it. 

Jason Bannon is a wreck. His leg’s been blown to hell in Afghanistan, his boyfriend just left him and took the dog, and now he’s back in his hometown of Pinehurst, Washington, a place that holds nothing but wretched memories…and Nathan Tull. Nathan Tull, whose life Jason ruined. Nathan Tull, who will never believe Jason did what he did for a greater good. Nathan Tull, whose reverend father runs a gay conversion therapy camp that Jason once sought to bring down—at any cost.

Nathan Tull is trying to live a quiet life. Four years ago, when Nate was a prospective student visiting UW Tacoma, his world collapsed when senior Jason Bannon slept with him, filmed it, and put the footage online. A painful public outing and a crisis of faith later, Nate has finally begun to heal. Cured of the “phantoms” that plagued him for years, he now has a girlfriend, a counselor job at his dad’s camp, and the constant, loving support of his father.

But when he learns Jason is back in town, his carefully constructed identity begins to crumble. As desperate to reconcile his love for God with his attraction to men as Jason is to make sense of the damage he’s done, Nate finds himself walking a dangerous line. On one side lies the righteous life he committed himself to in the wake of his public humiliation. On the other is the sin he committed with Jason Bannon, and the phantoms that won’t let him be. But is there a path that can bridge those two worlds—where his faith and his identity as a gay man aren’t mutually exclusive?

And can he walk that path with the man who betrayed him?

You can preorder The Preacher's Son here at Amazon.

It will be available on January 16. 

Coming Soon: Two Man Station

I'm so excited to announce that I have a new release coming out in January 2018 from Riptide: 

Gio Valeri is a big city police officer who’s been transferred to the small outback town of Richmond with his professional reputation in tatters. His transfer is a punishment, and Gio just wants to keep his head down and survive the next two years. No more mistakes. No more complications.

Except Gio isn’t counting on Jason Quinn.

Jason Quinn, officer in charge of Richmond Station, is a single dad struggling with balancing the demands of shift work with the challenges of raising his son. The last thing he needs is a new senior constable with a history of destroying other people’s careers. But like it or not, Jason has to work with Gio.

In a remote two man station hours away from the next town, Gio and Jason have to learn to trust and rely on each another. Close quarters and a growing attraction mean that the lines between professional and personal are blurring. And even in Richmond, being a copper can be dangerous enough without risking their hearts as well.

You can pre-order Two Man Station from Riptide! 

FALLOUT - Cover Reveal

You guys know M Caspian, right? You read Kraken, right? 

Well, guess what? M and I wrote a book. It's called FALLOUT, and it's coming on April 17. 

Here is the awesome cover, designed by the brilliant Natasha Snow: 

High-school boyfriends Jack Haldane and Bastian Wade thought everything would be perfect once they reunited at college, putting disapproving parents and small-town attitudes firmly in the past. Now Jack’s on track for a PhD scholarship and a career as a researcher, and Bastian . . . well, living inside a broken body and trailing along in Jack’s shadow didn’t feature in his lofty teenage ambitions. A weekend camping trip back home offers a chance for them to reconnect, but an ugly confrontation with the local motorcycle gang is only the start of their problems. When disaster occurs and the world unravels, will Bastian and Jack manage to hold on to each other, or fall further apart as they try to survive?

I can't wait until you guys can read this book. It's everything M and I love: dark themes, exploring the spaces between good and evil, and between physical strength and strength of spirit, and lots and lots of grey areas. 

We'll be posting links to pre-order as soon as those become available. 

In the meantime, ask yourself this: When the world ends, are you a good guy or a bad guy? And are you always given a choice? 

Writing, Rambling, and Plans for 2015

You know, after writing since forever—I blame it on the fact we didn’t have a TV when I was a kid living in New Guinea—and being published for a few years now, I still haven’t figured out where the ideas come from. And it’s something that people sometimes ask.

“Where do you get your ideas?”

I seriously don’t know. I suspect that the part of my brain that other people use to tell them to put petrol in the car or pay the phone bill or wear matching socks to work today has, in my case, been seconded to urgent daydreaming duties. I mean, I went to a staff meeting the other day and while I don’t actually remember anything that was discussed, I did kind of plan a fantasy story with magic and the ocean and princes and burning people at the stake. So there’s that.

The other day at work, someone said to me, “I wish I’d never stopped writing. I wrote lots when I was in high school, and I really loved it.”

You know the thing about writing? It is like the cheapest hobby on the planet. All you need is a pencil and a piece of paper. And, like any hobby, the more you do it, the better you get. If you enjoy writing, don’t stop doing it. Storytelling is one of the most fun things you can do, and the best way to learn is to just pick up a pencil and give it a go.

source

2014 was a great year for me. Wrote some books, went to GRL—the highlight of the year. And not just because I saw squirrels—and realised that yes, this writing thing is what I want to do. I mean, I can’t quit the day job quite yet, but it’s less of a pipe dream and more of a long term plan now. I mean, it would be, if I could plan anything in the long term. Or at all.

2015 will hopefully be the year I go to two conventions—Euro Pride in Munich in July, and GRL in San Diego in October (if I can get a spot). It’s also the year I want to branch out in YA, probably not under this name, and have a go at a few other writing projects as well.

Coming up soon, of course, is THE MERCHANT OF DEATH, Book 2 in J.A. Rock’s and my Playing the Fool trilogy. It’s out on February 2 from Riptide.

Heidi Belleau and I are also working on a story set in the same universe as BLISS, so that’s shaping up nicely!

And guess which lucky person got to write a novel with the awesome M. Caspian? It’s called FALLOUT, and it’s dark, dark, dark!

And J.A. and I have about a gazillion things to work on: the third Boy book, the third Prescott book, this entirely weird project we may have pitched to our publisher at GRL, and about a gazillion other ideas.

2015 is going to be a busy one!

This Week's Round Up

I was really, really sad that GRL ended. Why can't I live in a nice hotel all year round and talk about writing smutty scenes with hot guys all the time? Is that really too much to ask? I don't think so.

GRL was fantastic, obviously, Also, JA Rock and I announced (well, I announced it first, in public, so we can't later change our minds) that we are writing a third book in the Boy series. What have Derek and Lane been up to? Going by the response to this news in the BDSM panel, people actually do want to know! So we'll be starting writing that as soon as I get home from the US and am not relying on other people's computers. 

We may have also planned out about the next seven months of writing projects. Shit got real. Also, there was wine. And Maltesers. 

And guess what's out in only four more days? It's Brandon Mills versus the V-Card! Dinosaurs and cute, shy guys and omigod! I really hope you guys love this one. Brandon and Alex are much, much sweeter than Mark and Deacon, and we have some all-important awkward first time sex in this one. First time sex in books and movies is usually choreographed so beautifully, isn't it? Nobody ever gets an elbow in the face or an inappropriate attack of the giggles. 

And in other awesome news, The Two Gentlemen of Altona is available for preorder on Amazon! Yay! You should order it. Oh, and also get some Skittles and donuts. You'll want those! 

So, to sum up. Chicago was fantastic. San Francisco is fantastic. I'll be home in a week, and hanging around on FB and Goodreads again then! See you soon! 

Brandon Mills versus the V-Card

In exciting news, JA Rock and I have signed a contract with Loose Id for our Mark Cooper versus America sequel – Brandon Mills versus the V-Card. Not our original title, as you guys know, but we like it!

Brandon is Mark Cooper’s best friend, but they couldn’t be more different. Mark is reckless, loud, and would rather stab himself in the eye with a pen than actually do any work, while Brandon is quiet, sensible, and studious. He also feels sick at the idea of intimacy. Even a simple hug takes him to a place he doesn’t want to go.   

Because of this, Brandon Mills has a different feel to Mark Cooper. Mark Cooper was about two guys—both out and proud—negotiating a burgeoning relationship while also figuring out their kinks, Brandon Mills is about two guys who are both completely inexperienced. One of them, Alex, is desperate to lose his virginity now he’s at college, while Brandon, who has almost convinced himself he has no interest in sex, is terrified of his attraction to Alex.

For Alex, it’s love at first sight. Brandon is cute, and smart, and he has a plastic dinosaur on his desk. It’s clearly meant to be.

Alex may just be the cutest character JA and I have ever written, by the way. He’s incredibly smart, a little nerdy, clumsy, and what he lacks in experience he makes up for in enthusiasm. Awkward bus BJ, anyone?

And don’t worry. Mark and Deacon are still in this book. Deacon’s being as supportive and caring as always, and Mark’s being Mark. Our favourite football player Blake is back as well, and this time he’s on a mission. A completely misconstrued mission.

We don’t have a release date yet for Brandon Mills versus the V-Card, but as soon as we do, we’ll let you know!

Teaser: The Dreams You Made in the Dirt

Are you a member of the Goodreads M/M Romance Group? 

If not, you absolutely should be, because the Love's Landscapes event is currently underway. That's where a bunch of people send in a bunch of prompts, and a whole other bunch of people write them. And then we all get to read them FOR FREE! 

The story I wrote last year, Falling Away, can be found via my Free Reads page. 

This year, the story I wrote is called The Dreams You Made in the Dirt. And not only did I get ambitious and make my own cover for it, but I'm also going to release it as a freebie via Amazon after the Love's Landscapes event. And possibly Smashwords as well, if I can actually figure Smashwords out... 

But here's a look at the cover. 

And here are the opening sentences: 

In that split second as he watched the glass in the windscreen fracture like a spider’s web, Cole knew one thing for certain: he was going to die. He’d survived a tour in a country where people tried to kill him on a daily basis, and now he was going to die in a car accident. How prosaic. How fucking absurd.

If you guys like hurt/comfort, first times, and a shitload of angst, I think you'll enjoy this one. 

There's also a dog. 

Of course. 

I'm beginning to think I'm incapable of writing a book without one.

Sweetwater - Coming September 29

Yay! Exciting news! My historical western Sweetwater is now available for pre-order from Riptide. 

Wyoming Territory, 1870.

Elijah Carter is afflicted. Most of the townsfolk of South Pass City treat him as a simpleton because he’s deaf, but that’s not his only problem. Something in Elijah runs contrary to nature and to God. Something that Elijah desperately tries to keep hidden.

Harlan Crane, owner of the Empire saloon, knows Elijah for what he is—and for all the ungodly things he wants. But Crane isn’t the only one. Grady Mullins desires Elijah too, but unlike Crane, he refuses to push the kid.

When violence shatters Elijah’s world, he is caught between two very different men and two devastating urges: revenge, and despair. In a boomtown teetering on the edge of a bust, Elijah must face what it means to be a man in control of his own destiny, and choose a course that might end his life . . . or truly begin it for the very first time. 

Let the great experiment begin!

You've probably heard this one before. 

So, J. A. Rock and I wrote this thing. 

But it's a new thing. It's not the thing you're thinking of. 

Basically, this is an experimental thing. And by that I mean that it's not a romance. It's MM, but it's not a romance. It may not end the way you expect it to it. But what the hell do I know about your expectations? Maybe it all goes down exactly the way you think it will. 

Anyway, it's a little bit different, and to keep it that way we decided to self-publish it. So as soon as we figure out exactly how to go about that, we'll put this one out. 

In the meantime, this is it: 

Ilia Porter is Chechen mob boss Mikhail Kadyrov’s greatest treasure. After leaving home at eighteen to escape his verbally abusive father, beautiful, selfish Ilia has lived with Mikhail, proud of his ability to bring such a powerful man to his knees to worship. But when Ilia’s father, a police captain, kills Mikhail in a raid, Ilia’s world falls apart.

Entering to pick up the pieces is Mikhail’s younger brother, Nick—impulsive, power-hungry, and dangerous. When Nick tells Ilia he’s taking everything that belonged to Mikhail—including Ilia—Ilia is too lost in grief to fight. Nick takes Ilia prisoner in the apartment Ilia once shared with Mikhail and grooms him for a very important mission: to kill Ilia’s father and avenge Mikhail’s death.

Ilia wants no part in the plot, but being Nick’s ally is preferable to being Nick’s victim, so he begins to warp himself into the monster Nick wants him to be. Hope arrives when Nick takes another captive: Patrick, a shy massage therapist who’s stronger than he seems. Patrick and Ilia must join forces to escape Nick—and to keep each other whole as Nick does everything in his power to break them.

March is a big one!

This month I am the featured author over at Riptide! Hooray for me!

If you follow the link you can find out all about my newest releases and what's coming up from me at Riptide. You can also read an interview and find out why my study is full of garden implements, dog food, and outdoor furniture. I'm not lazy at all -- it's a safety issue. *whistles*

Being the March featured author isn't just good news for me -- it's good news for you as well.

You can buy He Is Worthy at half price -- only $1.99 The rest of Riptide's Warriors of Rome series is half price as well!

You can also preorder Bliss, co-written with Heidi Belleau, for the special price of $5.99!

They're always happy.

Rory James has worked hard all his life to become a citizen of the idyllic city-state of Beulah. Like every other kid born in the neighboring country of Tophet, he’s heard the stories: No crime or pollution. A house and food for everyone. It’s perfect, and Rory is finally getting a piece of it.

So is Tate Patterson. He’s from Tophet, too, but he’s not a legal immigrant; he snuck in as a thief. A city without crime seems like an easy score, until he crashes into Rory during a getaway and is arrested for assaulting a citizen. Instead of jail, Tate is enrolled in Beulah’s Rehabilitation through Restitution program. By living with and serving his victim for seven years, Tate will learn the human face of his crimes.

If it seems too good to be true, that’s because it is. Tate is fitted with a behavior-modifying chip that leaves him unable to disobey orders—any orders, no matter how dehumanizing. Worse, the chip prevents him from telling Rory, the one man in all of Beulah who might care about him, the truth: in a country without prisons, Tate is locked inside his own mind.

And to round off the month of March, When All the World Sleeps is out on the 24th. Seriously, I can't wait to share this one with everyone. I love it so much, and I hope you do too!

Read a five star review of When All the World Sleeps on Goodreads. 

Mark Cooper Versus America - coming in January

Woot! 

Mark Cooper Versus America will be out on January 28 from Loose Id. 

That's two days after Australia Day, which is fairly good timing for a story about an Aussie boy. At first I thought it would have been perfect if it had been the 26th, but guess what? The 28th is my birthday, so that's even better! Happy birthday to me! 

I like Mark Cooper, lots. Because he's funny, and he's snarky, and he's a little bit sweet and insecure -- not that he'll admit that in a million years. He also knows that the correctly terminology for a guy's backside is "arse". Sounds better than ass, doesn't it? Got a lot more grunt in it. 

For those who don't speak the language, that says "Come on, Australia." Because syllables are for foreigners. 

Anyway, JA Rock and I have got a few fun things planned for the release of Mark Cooper Versus America, and now, given the timing, I think I'll have to dig around in my mum's kitchen and pull out the recipes for lamingtons and pavlovas, just so I can share the Aussie love. 

Okay, the Kiwis will claim they invented pavolvas. Don't believe them. It's a lie. Everyone lied. History lied. It's a conspiracy. They're just saying it because the feel bad that their national bird can't fly and looks like a mop with a pointy beak. 

Okay, so our national bird can't fly either, but it can kick you to death, and that's pretty cool, right? Anyway, before I get too carried away, here's the blurb for Mark Cooper Versus America: 

Mark Cooper is angry, homesick, and about to take his stepdad's dubious advice and rush Prescott College's biggest party fraternity, Alpha Delta Phi. Greek life is as foreign to Aussie transplant as Pennsylvania's snowstorms and bear sightings. When the fraternity extends Mark a bid, Mark makes it his mission to get kicked out by the end of pledge period. But things change when he's drawn into Alpha Delt's feud with a neighbouring fraternity. 

Studious Phi Sigma Kappa Deacon Holt is disappointed to learn Mark's pledging Alpha Delt -- Phi Sig's sworn enemy. Mark's too beautiful for Deacon to pass up an invitation for sex, but beyond sex, Deacon's not sure. He wants a relationship, but a difficult family situation prevents him from pursuing anything beyond his studies. Mark and Deacon's affair heats up as the war between their fraternities escalates. They explore kinks they didn't know they had while keeping their liaison a secret from the brothers. But what Romeo and Juliet didn't teach these star-cross'd lovers is how to move beyond sex and into a place where they share more than a bed. That's something they'll have to figure out on their own -- if the friction between their houses doesn't tear them apart.  

And here is a lovely pavlova: 

Oh yeah, that's at least 600% sugar... 

News...and s'mores

Okay. So time for some news!

Firstly, the awesome Heidi Belleau and I have signed a contract with Riptide for our m/m novel set in post-apocalyptic Dublin. It's called King of Dublin, and it's heavy on the violence and the non-con. Why is it that the most violent and depraved things are also the most fun to write? 

King of Dublin is about Darragh, who journeys from his home village in Cork to Dublin, and gets tangled up in the gangland wars and power struggles of the self-proclaimed King of Dublin, and with the king's pet slave, Ciaran. Hilarity ensures. No, wait, I don't mean hilarity. I mean bloodshed and trauma. 

In other news, Dark Space will be coming out in print soon from Loose Id! Yay! I'm always so happy when trees die on my behalf. 

And in other, other news, if any of you guys are on Twitter and have been following J.A. Rock and me, you might have noticed our fairly aggressive fights about spelling, bears, and confectionary. This is because in Mark Cooper Versus America, our hero Mark is constantly banging his head against the wall of cultural misunderstandings. 

Well, in the course of writing Mark Cooper Versus America, I might have thrown in a line about having to try everything once...even s'mores. And then I confessed to J.A. that I had no idea what s'mores actually were. And the more she tried to explain, the more confused I got. WHAT THE HELL IS A GRAHAM CRACKER? 

Last night I got home from work to find a parcel waiting for me. It contains: 

1. marshmallows

2. chocolate 

3. crackers 

4. a book about avoiding bear attacks 

...and handwritten (and illustrated) instructions on how to make s'mores. 

Guess what I'm doing this weekend? 

The Boy Who Belonged - Coming Soon

So, J.A. Rock and I have been crazy-busy lately (mostly crazy), and we've written a sequel to The Good Boy, which is under contract from Loose Id. It's called The Boy Who Belonged, and here is the unofficial blurb: 

"Angina!" 

Twenty-one year-old Lane Moredock finally has a normal life. Six months after he was wrongly made a suspect in his parents’ Ponzi scheme, he’s settled down with his older boyfriend, Derek, and is working and attending school. But his happiness is threatened when his mother launches a Christmastime PR campaign to help appeal her prison sentence, and asks introverted Lane to be part of it.

Derek Fields has his hands full taking Santa photos, bird-sitting his sister’s foul-mouthed macaw, and helping Lane prepare for a television interview neither of them wants him to do. As he eases Lane through his anxiety, he worries that Lane sees him as a caretaker rather than a boyfriend, and that their age difference really does matter. He and Lane compensate for the stress in their lives by taking their D/s relationship to new levels--a relationship that Lane’s mother insists he should be ashamed of.

As Christmas draws nearer, the pressure builds. Pushy elves. Snarky subs. A bad fight. A parrot in peril. How the hell is Derek going to give Lane a perfect Christmas when the Moredock legacy threatens to pull them apart before the new year?

Yay for Christmas stories! The course of true love never runs smooth. Particularly when you add Mr Zimmerman to the mix. 

No, Mum, I haven't just been eating chocolate and wasting time on the internet

Exciting news time! 

J.A. Rock and I have not one, but two books currently under contract. So I'm just going to tell you about them, and hopefully whet your appetites, okay? 

Coming up first, hopefully, is Mark Cooper Versus America, under contract to Loose Id. This is a fun little book (I can write fun, I promise. It's not always angsty dub-con here in my brain) about an Aussie boy whose mother marries an American, and who then he finds himself transplanted halfway across the world. With snow and bears and shit. And he's not a happy bunny at all. 

It's also the book where J.A. and I got to rehash all our favourite arguments about spelling, language, and cultural differences. I mean, what are s'mores anyway, and why should I care? I'm going to go and eat some Freddo Frogs. 

Here's the unofficial blurb: 

Mark Cooper is angry, homesick, and about to take his stepdad's dubious advice and rush Prescott College's biggest party fraternity, Alpha Delta Phi. Greek life is as foreign to Aussie transplant as Pennsylvania's snowstorms and bear sightings. When the fraternity extends Mark a bid, Mark makes it his mission to get kicked out by the end of pledge period. But things change when he's drawn into Alpha Delt's feud with a neighbouring fraternity. 

Studious Phi Sigma Kappa Deacon Holt is disappointed to learn Mark's pledging Alpha Delt -- Phi Sig's sworn enemy. Mark's too beautiful for Deacon to pass up an invitation for sex, but beyond sex, Deacon's not sure. He wants a relationship, but a difficult family situation prevents him from pursuing anything beyond his studies. Mark and Deacon's affair heats up as the war between their fraternities escalates. They explore kinks they didn't know they had while keeping their liaison a secret from the brothers. But what Romeo and Juliet didn't teach these star-cross'd lovers is how to move beyond sex and into a place where they share more than a bed. That's something they'll have to figure out on their own -- if the friction between their houses doesn't tear them apart. 

Ah, so much snark and fun and college boys learning how to be kinky...

And here's the flipside. There's always a flipside. A dark, unhappy flipside:  When All The World Sleeps will be out in 2014 from Riptide. Here is the unofficial blurb: 

Daniel Whitlock has been sleepwalking since he was a child. No one's ever really understood his disorder. His parents punished him, his sister mocked him, and when, as an adult, Daniel swore in court he had no memory of burning down Kenny Cooper's house with Kenny inside, the entire town of Logan turned against him. Terrified of what else he might do in his sleep, Daniel isolates himself in a cabin in the woods and chains himself to his bed at night. 

Local cop Joe Belman doesn't believe Daniel's bullshit defense either. But when Bel saves Daniel's life, he discovers Daniel might not be what everyone says he is: crazy. A killer. A liar. A tweaker. A freak. Bel agrees to look after Daniel at night -- for Logan's sake, not Daniel's. Daniel's attractive, but Bel's not going there. 

Except as he'd drawn further into Daniel's dark world, Bel finds he likes being in charge, and Daniel finds that submitting to Bel gives him the only peace he's ever known. But Daniel's demons won't leave him alone, and he'll need Bel's help to slay them once and for all-- if Bel can accept that being on Daniel's side might cost him everything. 

When All The World Sleeps is definitely dark. I mean, when you start your writing process with "Well, how about he killed a guy?" it's not going to be full of sunshine and rainbows and puppies. 

I love both of these, in very different ways, and I hope you guys will too! 

And later on we'll investigate why we wrote two very different stories that both feature characters with the surname Cooper. I suspect a lack of imagination. (Totally my fault, not JA's, since I think I named them both.)