What's Up With My Samhain Books?

By now, the majority of folks have heard the news that Samhain Publishing has closed its doors (for real this time). Ebooks are down from all major retailers, and their site is no longer functioning. Paperback versions are still for sale wherever they have remaining inventory, because the vendors own those books, and those listings will disappear once the books are sold out. Rights reversion letters are supposed to start going out to authors any minute so we can do with our books as we please.

I had eight books with Samhain, spread over two interconnected series (Cost of Repairs and Perspectives).

The good news: I'm going to republish my three Perspectives titles (The Truth As He Knows It, The World As He Sees It, and The Heart As He Hears It) on Amazon with their original cover art as soon as I get the rights back. Like, same day if possible. I'm also going to experiment by having them in Kindle Unlimited for a three-month trial. Hopefully this happens in early march, because these books are entwined with my March 17 release, Here For Us, which will also be in KU.

The less great news: the Cost of Repairs series won't be available again for a brief period of time. Why, you ask? Good question.

First, I want to re-edit them. Mostly a spit-shine, but my writing has improved over the years, so I want to go back through them. Address some errors that have popped up over time, and maybe even add some content. Second, I want to re-cover them. I'm already in contact with my original cover designer with Samhain, and the entire series is going to get an updated look. This means re-releasing them later in the year, probably beginning in the summer. I'm still fluid on that.

On a personal note, I'm sad to see Samhain shut its doors. For many, many years, it was my go-to retailer for quality m/m romances. Some of my favorite authors were published there. Hell, the very first m/m romance I ever read was published by Samhain. The day I received an acceptance email from my editor for Cost of Repairs, I about peed myself with joy. I was sad when that editor left after one book, but my second editor, Christa Soule, was a gift. She made the rest of those books shine, and I miss working with her.

So that's what's what with me right now. 

I wish all of my fellow Samhain authors, editors, artists, and other employees the very best as we all pursue new endeavors.

New Release: Fractured Hymns

It has been more than three years since Ethaniel Shockley first showed up in my zero draft of "Foundation of Trust" (Cost of Repairs #5), and he never did go away. Even I wanted to know why such a handsome fellow was still single, and why he told strangers that his niece was his daughter.

Two years ago, I began the first draft of Fractured Hymns and progress was steady. I loved Ethan and Angel and the extended Shockley family, but after about 30,000 words I got stuck. Really, really stuck. So I put the book aside and worked on other things. 

About a year ago, I dusted off Fractured Hymns once again, gave it a reread, and suddenly I knew how to fix it. I knew where the story needed to go. And I finished it. I initially contracted the book to Samhain Publishing, but after this spring's We're closing/We're not closing debacle, I received my rights back and decided to step into the world of self-publishing.

It's been kind of fun, and I'm so happy to finally be able to put Fractured Hymns out into the world with an amazing cover my Lyn Taylor. This book is about so many things, like family and personal faith, but it's also about self-acceptance. And it's about pushing past adversity and pain and living the best life possible.

I hope you all enjoy your time with Ethaniel and Angel. It's available now on Amazon, and will be on other retailers soon.

Edit: Available now on Nook.

Still firmly in the closet at the age of thirty, Ethaniel Shockley is content leading a solitary—if lonely—life working on a construction crew with fellow military vets. After a tragic worksite accident leaves two of his friends dead, Ethaniel returns to his family home to recuperate from a spiral leg fracture and severe Post Concussive Syndrome. He may be lucky to be alive, but he hates the independence he’s lost. Matthew “Angel” Garrett has worked at Shockley Stables for three years, content to muck stalls and polish saddles, and to be as unnoticeable as possible. Except for weekly church outings, he avoids going into town so he doesn’t see The Look. The Look that says “I know you went to prison for killing a man.”
 A chance conversation with Ethaniel gives Angel hope that maybe he can have a friendship with the gorgeous Shockley sibling he’s crushed on for years. But the more time they spend indulging in their shared love of music, the clearer it becomes that they both want more. Ethaniel sees a kindred spirit in Angel, whose soul is just as fractured from his time in prison as Ethaniel’s is from war. But Angel has another, deeper secret that haunts him—one he’s positive will destroy this new song with Ethaniel before it’s even written.

Cover and Blurb Reveal: Fractured Hymns

It's almost here! 

Fractured Hymns is a book that is near and dear to my heart. I began writing it almost three years ago, not long after completing another novel called Foundation of Trust, the fifth Cost of Repairs novel. A minor character named Ethaniel appears in FoT, and while he was basically there to serve as a plot device, he started to poke at me. Why does he live so far from home? Why does he tell people his niece Sarah is his daughter? What’s his story?

Well, I began his story, got about 100 pages into it, and then hit a blank. I left my two heroes sitting in a cold garage, mid-conversation, for almost two years, before finally completing it in September 2015. I finally gave my beautiful, broken Ethaniel and his shy, stuttering hero Angel their happily ever after, and I’m excited to show you guys the gorgeous cover by Lyn Taylor, as well as the blurb. The publication date is tentatively set for October 24, and I hope to have pre-order links soon.

Still firmly in the closet at the age of thirty, Ethaniel Shockley is content leading a solitary—if lonely—life working on a construction crew with fellow military vets. After a tragic worksite accident leaves two of his friends dead, Ethaniel returns to his family home to recuperate from a spiral leg fracture and severe Post Concussive Syndrome. He may be lucky to be alive, but he hates the independence he’s lost.

 Matthew “Angel” Garrett has worked at Shockley Stables for three years, content to muck stalls and polish saddles, and to be as unnoticeable as possible. Except for weekly church outings, he avoids going into town so he doesn’t see The Look. The Look that says “I know you went to prison for killing a man.”

A chance conversation with Ethaniel gives Angel hope that maybe he can have a friendship with the gorgeous Shockley sibling he’s crushed on for years. But the more time they spend indulging in their shared love of music, the clearer it becomes that they both want more. Ethaniel sees a kindred spirit in Angel, whose soul is just as fractured from his time in prison as Ethaniel’s is from war. But Angel has another, deeper secret that haunts him—one he’s positive will destroy this new song with Ethaniel before it’s even written.

Altered Landscape: My Thoughts on Samhain and What's Next

So yesterday was a bit of gut shot to the romance community as a whole, and to myself as an individual. In case you missed it, Samhain Publishing announced that they are beginning the process of going out of business.

Click here for the official letter, if you haven't read it and want the details.

Samhain is a well-run company that has always treated their authors with respect, and I have enjoyed my time as one of their authors. I adore my editor, Christa Soule, and my cover artist, Lyn Taylor. When I chose to begin writing m/m romance, Samhain was my top choice publisher, and I screamed for joy when Cost of Repairs was accepted by them. Seven books later, I was prepared to stay with Samhain for the long-haul.

Except the universe had other plans.

It's devastating to see a company with such a rich history fold and go under. But it's also heartening to see them do it with dignity, class, and in a way that makes sure authors continue to get paid.

And getting paid is why I had a panic attack yesterday when I first learned of this news.

At the end of last year, I made the decision to give up my full-time, benefits-paying retail job in order to write full-time. My collective royalties had surpassed what I made at that job, and I was no longer happy. Anyone who's worked in retail for any substantial length of time knows it can suck at your soul. I love the people I worked with and the company I worked for, but I was determined to give this full-time author thing a shot.

And one of the things that gave me great comfort (and most definitely influenced my decision to leave my day job) was knowing I had a steady paycheck every single month from Samhain. I loved that they paid monthly, instead of quarterly like my other publishers. Learning that steady, monthly income was no longer guaranteed terrified me. I'm a single person, who lives alone. I depend on myself to pay rent, bills, and food. My cats depend on me to keep them fed and in kitty litter.

Now this doesn't mean that I'm going to suddenly need to find a new day job, or that I'm going to end up in financial ruin. I didn't quit my job without having a plan in place. But the landscape of how I imagined the next few years look like has been dramatically altered.

Samhain will continue to sell current titles for an unknown amount of time, and they will publish books that are finalized and ready to go. Some of my fellow Samhain authors seem super-eager to get their rights back on their backlist titles, but I'm glad to let my books remains on sale for now. I have every confidence Samhain will pay me (and my fellow authors) for every sale made until the day they take them off the market. So please, don't let their winding down scare you away from purchasing the hundreds upon hundreds of awesome books they have for sale. This isn't just a sales pitch for my stuff, but also for my fellow authors being affected.

So knowing I'll still get those monthly checks for a while helps. It gives me time to plan and to think about what's next for all of the characters populating Stratton and my fictional version of Harrisburg, PA.

The Heart As He Hears It (Perspectives #3) will still be published on April 19th in ebook, paperback and audio. Y'all still get Jon and Isaac's story, and I'm super-happy about that.

But after that, I'm sad to say that Perspectives is an orphaned series. I had every intention of submitting a Perspectives 4 to my editor once she returned from her sabbatical--that is obviously not going to happen now. And it's unlikely that another publisher would pick up the fourth book in a series. 

What about self-publishing, you ask? I don't know. At the moment, I have other deadlines, plus the re-issues of Prodigal and Frozen, and the heroes of P4 simply aren't burning a hole in my brain.

I will miss one of my favorite first-round edit quirks from Christa, though. She tried to guess at who would be the next hero, or hint that she wanted this particular character's story. It was always so encouraging, knowing that even two-scene side characters were engaging enough to require more.

Besides Perspectives, I also have a finished book that is now orphaned. Fractured Hymns, my gay inspirational romance, will be reverted back to me. I have cover art and a blurb (which I'm kind of glad I never got around to sharing last week when I received the final files), but we never got to the editing stage. And honestly, the lack of editing this close to a September release date was starting to nibble at the back of my mind as bizarre, when at this point we should have been on copy edits, at least.

I'm not sure what to do with Fractured Hymns. It's a standalone romance, absolutely, but it does spin-off from a character you met in Foundation of Trust, Ethaniel Shockley. Plus emails from Owen. I may submit it elsewhere. For now, until I officially have the rights back and decide what to do, that book is off my 2016 release calendar. 

But it's not all sadness. I still have two fun new series to debut this year! Come What May (All Saints #1) in May, and Body Rocks (Off Beat #1) in June. Steady Stroke (Off Beat #2) is scheduled for October, and All Saints #2 should come out in the fall, as well. So yay for new books!

The landscape of romance publishing changed yesterday, and everyone who worked for Samhain is feeling the effects. We'll continue to feel them as we go forward, everyone finding new footing. New opportunities. Facing new challenges. But the great thing about the romance community? We're doing it together. We all recognize what we're losing: quality romance books from a kick-ass publisher who consistently put their authors first. And we're commiserating together.

We're also celebrating together. Celebrating amazing coworkers and relationships we forged thanks to Samhain. Celebrating a publisher that is going out with dignity. Celebrating authors and readers and cover artists and editors and ROMANCE.

Because romance, no matter what color of the rainbow or end of the spectrum, is a beautiful, beautiful thing.

The Visitor's Center Is Open

I've been pondering the idea of opening up a Cafe Press store for a while now, and this morning I decided to finally do it. After discovering some logo software that's easy to use, I whipped up what's been in my head for ages:

How cute is that? And it's now available on all kinds of things, such as mugs, aprons, and even a teddy bear. It's like you went to Stratton and came home with souvenirs. 

I hope to use this store as a means of creating swag and unique giveaway prizes for you guys, my loyal readers.

I do plan to add other logos for my more infamous fictional locations, such as Big Dick's, Pot O Gold, and maybe even Jeremy's antique store. So stay tuned for updates.

PARTY FAVORS: A Cost of Repairs Short Story

I've been promising this for months, and it's finally here! PARTY FAVORS is set post-ACTS OF FAITH and pre-FOUNDATION OF TRUST, and it tells the tale of David and Schuyler's impromptu post-wedding bachelor party for Samuel Briggs and Rey King. There's a stripper (who gets his own book next year!), a perverted party game, and an unexpected gift. And sex.

Of course there's sex.

Click on the cover for a link to the pdf file in Dropbox. You can read it directly, or download the file.

Enjoy!

Happy Father's Day!

Because I am a dork and couldn't resist the cuteness of the idea....

New Book with Samhain!

I'm so excited to announce that I've signed my sixth contract with Samhain Publishing for THE TRUTH AS HE KNOWS IT, which is tentatively scheduled to release in February 2015. TRUTH is a spinoff from my COST OF REPAIRS series, still set around Stratton, PA, with the focus also shifting to Harrisburg and other nearby towns. So this one is "Perspectives #1/Cost of Repairs #6".

TRUTH brings back Officer Noel Carlson, seen briefly near the end of ACTS OF FAITH (Cost of Repairs #4), and gives him quite the challenge in Jody "Shane" McShane. Shane will be introduced in a short story I hope to post for free sometime this summer, before the release of FOUNDATION OF TRUST (Cost of Repairs #5). The short story is all Schuyler and David's fault (trust me). And TRUTH wouldn't be a CoR book without a small Samuel cameo.

Like usual, I'm posting the blurb I used when I sent the book to my editor. This is not the official book blurb.

Have I mentioned I'm excited about this book? It made my editor Tweet "I hate you for this" at me (don't worry, it's a good thing).

Noel Carlson is stuck in a routine that is as comfortable as it is stifling. A young police officer with no family to support, Noel's overnight first watch shifts conflict with the social schedules of guys his age, so he spends most of his time alone.  He isn't out to anyone in small-town Stratton, Pennsylvania—only his distant family and a few out-of-town friends know he's gay—so a relationship is out of the question. But that doesn't stop him from wanting one.

 Jody "Shane" McShane is stuck in a different kind of rut. He lives in a cheap trailer with his older brother Jason, who works two jobs to pay their bills and keep them both fed. Shane helps out by working at Mineo's Deli as often as they'll have him, and by moonlighting as a private party stripper. Neither he nor Jason have much time for a social life. They each blame themselves for the debt they're struggling to overcome, and any discussion of past mistakes inevitably leads to an argument no one ever wins.
 

When Noel rescues a half-naked stripper from a birthday party gone wrong, he can't get the gorgeous Shane out of his mind. A fortuitous run-in with Shane leads to a non-date of hot sex and takeout food, and a strong bond is forged that neither man expects—or knows what to do with. Shane's soul is bogged down by the weight of painful secrets that continue to strain his relationship with his brother and test the limits of Noel's patience. After Jason's health is threatened by his overwhelming workload, Shane is determined to take some of the burden onto himself and pay off their collective debt—no matter what it costs him in the end.

And because I can't help it, this is the photo I found on Tumblr that inspired the entire book:

Free Book!

To help celebrate the December 17 release of ACTS OF FAITH, my publisher is offering the first book in the series, COST OF REPAIRS, for free across multiple platforms! If you haven't read it yet, you can meet and get to know Samuel and Rey before they reappear next month. Or encourage a friend who's on a budget to try something new.

And it's only free for a limited time, so don't wait!

Amazon Link.
Nook Link

Please spread the word! Sam and Rey (and Schuyler and Barrett and Gavin and Jace) will thank you!

Updates All Around

Summer is disappearing fast, isn't it? So many things to say!

The biggest, of course, is that WEIGHT OF SILENCE (Cost of Repairs 3) is officially out from Samhain Publishing, and so far the reviews are excellent. I'm so happy to share Jace and Gavin with you guys, and I hope you enjoy their journey as much as I enjoyed writing it.

On those coattails, ACTS OF FAITH (Cost of Repairs 4) has gone through the page proofs stage, which means it's almost a finished book! Mark your calendars, because Samuel and Rey are heading back to your ereaders December 17th.

I've also finished writing a first draft of the fifth Cost of Repairs book, which has a tentative title of FOUNDATION OF TRUST. You don't know the heroes yet (one you'll meet in Acts of Faith), but they were certainly an angsty pair with serious trust issues. Hopefully I'll have this cleaned up and off to my editor sometime in the next few weeks.

The release date for my first book with Carina Press is February 17, 2014. The original title, CATCH & RELEASE, is likely to change. I'll update when I know for sure. Book two will come sometime after.

I also have another novel coming from Dreamspinner this winter,and I can't believe I haven't blogged about it! I'll do that in a separate post.

I do keep promising to write Jeremy's book (a followup to UNEARTHING COLE) and I will! I already have about three chapters written. But I keep getting distracted by new books. All I ask is continued patience, dear readers! We'll get back to Franklin, NC soon-ish!

Acts of Faith: Cover and Blurb

Cost of Repairs fans! It's the book you've been asking for!

Love can be built on a broken past…but not on broken trust.

Cost of Repairs, Book 4

Rey King has settled into his new life with Samuel Briggs, and his catering business has taken off to the point he’s brought a business partner on board. Yet something is missing. He’s still haunted by the pain of losing his daughter, Faith, in a custody battle six years ago.

Then, one month before Christmas, Faith’s grandmother passes away, and Rey gets a shocking offer he never saw coming.

Samuel knew loving Rey wouldn't be easy, but then again he’s no walk in the park either. Still, for eighteen months they’ve thrived as a couple…until a shy, seven-year-old girl shakes his belief that he and Rey can overcome anything.

Settling Faith into their chaotic lives would be a welcome challenge, if things weren’t complicated by Rey’s too-cute, overly attentive new business partner. As misunderstandings, miscommunications, and unresolved tensions escalate, Rey begins to wonder if the best Christmas gift of his life could cost him the man he loves.

Warning: Product contains one overprotective (and slightly jealous) police office, an angsty chef whose heart is in the right place (even when his actions backfire), and an adorable little girl who turns their lives upside down. Added bonus—hot man-on-man action and the inappropriate use of a washing machine.

Some of my very favorite Rey/Samuel scenes are in this book. Acts of Faith releases December 17 from Samhain.

Amazon Link

News and Reviews

First, I want to say a hearty and heart-felt THANK YOU to everyone who has bought "Cost of Repairs" since its release last week. I never imagined the awesome response to the story (Samuel and Rey thank you, too).

Reviews by Jessewave has an amazing review posted, which just makes me giddy every time I think about it. CoR was also a weekend recommendation at the USAToday Romance blog!

A few folks have also commented that they hope to see more Stratton stories, specifically about Rey's ex Schuyler, and all I can say....you will. Samhain has contracted the second Dixie's Cup book, UNDER HIS SKIN*, which is Schuyler's story. It's tentatively scheduled to release in January '13.

More on that as it develops.

*The book has gone under a title change, and is now COLOR OF GRACE. Much more fitting, I think.