Sloan Parker Blog

Yes, I know, I’m writing Walter and Kevin’s story now, but this one came up on the iPod and I just knew it was a song for Evan and Kyle.

Built to Last, Melee

It’s been added to my website’s Behind The Story page for Take Me Home.

5/4/12 10:00 AM EST: Updated to add a couple more prizes to the list
5/4/12 4:20 PM EST: Added another new book. We now have 21 prizes!!

This Saturday, May 5th, the lovely SJ Frost and I are hosting another m/m Romance Reader Appreciation Day at the Sweet Spot Yahoo Group. This is a day for authors to say thank-you to the wonderful readers of m/m romance. This month we have a fantastic list of prizes! Be sure to check them out below. Some of the authors included in the giveaway will also be sharing excerpts of their work.

Here’s how to enter the giveaway:

1. If you haven’t already, join the Yahoo Group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheSweetSpotMM/
2. Watch the group page (or your email if you choose to receive emails from the group) on Saturday, May 5th for a message with instructions on how to enter.
3. Reply to that message between 8am and 8pm EST indicating you’d like to enter the giveaway.

That’s it. You’ll be added to the drawing for your chance at a random prize. Winners will be announced via the group after the giveaway closes. Authors will be sent the winning email addresses at that time and will contact their winners directly.

So far, the following authors have generously donated these or other prizes. Thank you, authors!

• Erica Pike – ebook copy of College Fun and Gays series – winner’s choice
• Lori Toland – ebook copy of The Long Con
• Michael Mandrake – ebook copy of Vertigo
• Belinda McBride – ebook copy of Blacque/Bleu
• JM Cartwright – ebook copy of A Change Of Pace
• Kendall McKenna – $15 gift card to Silver Publishing
• Kendall McKenna – ebook copy of Brothers In Arms
• Kaje Harper – winner’s choice of ebook from her backlist
• Jambrea Jo Jones – winner’s choice of ebook from her backlist
• Sue Holston – PDF copy of In the Name of the Law
• H.L. Holston – ebook copy of Coffee,Tea and the Mile High Club
• Lex Valentine – ebook copy of Afterburner
• Lex Valentine – ebook copy of Kissing Joan Collins
• Allison Cassatta – ebook copies of Dear Diary and Pride (combo)
• PD Singer – ebook copy of The Rare Event
• Ellis Carrington – ebook copy of Immortal Valentine
• TN Tarrant – pdf copy of The Absentminded Astrophysicist
• Sloan Parker – ebook copy of Take Me Home
• Sloan Parker – $15 in eBooks Bucks from All Romance eBooks
• S.J. Frost – $15 in eBook Bucks from All Romance eBooks
• S.J. Frost – winner’s choice of ebook from her backlist

Hope you can join us at The Sweet Spot Reader Appreciation Day, hosted by Sloan Parker and S.J. Frost.

Hello everyone! I only have time for a quick post today, but I definitely wanted to share a link to a guest blog I wrote about music and my current manuscript (Walter and Kevin’s story).

My friend and lovely critique partner, Constance Phillips, who has her first release coming out with Crescent Moon Press later this year (Congrats, Constance!! So proud of you!!), was kind enough to give me a spot on her Character Playlist feature.

Stop by my post, Music of a Manuscript, to get a mini preview of Walter and Kevin’s story via some of the songs on the book’s playlist.

Also, keep an eye on my website for more about this story. I’ll be adding these and other videos for the rest of the playlist to my Behind the Story page, as well as more news and other behind-the-scenes details.

Have a good one!
Sloan

It’s official. I’ve signed a contract for TAKE ME HOME, my love story about two friends finding their way to what started 10 years before with one passionate night that ended too quickly. Tentative release date is December 13, 2011 from Loose Id. Sometimes Loose Id will adjust their schedule closer to the release date, but I’ll keep you posted if that happens.

Thanks to all who commented on the blog, sent an email, or have chatted with me on Facebook, Twitter, and elsewhere for your support while I was working on this manuscript.

As of last week, I finished writing TAKE ME HOME, and now I’m back working on Walter and Kevin’s story. If all goes well with my submission and I sign a contract for TAKE ME HOME, I won’t be sharing any more excerpts until the book has been through the final round of edits, so I thought I’d share one last teaser.

This is an UNEDITED sample from TAKE ME HOME (tentatively scheduled for December 2011)

Evan picked up the pages of his script. He was done trying to work, even if he couldn’t fall asleep right away. He wanted to know more about the dream, about what had gotten Kyle so turned on.

He headed down the hall and hesitated outside Kyle’s door. He heard the sound of slick skin over skin, an occasional grunt, the bed shifting. Evan couldn’t move. Either forward or back. He’d heard Kyle jerking off before. He’d always gone on about his business and given his friend a little privacy. Now…

Why couldn’t he walk in there? Why couldn’t he let them have this one night?

He leaned his forehead against the closed bedroom door, listening to the sound of Kyle’s heavy breathing, the sound of his hand moving faster and faster.

Evan clutched the doorknob in his fist.

He’d just have to live with the fantasy. That’s all he’d have.

Then what was he doing?

He twisted the handle, and the door creaked as he pushed in. Every sound from Kyle stopped. The room was dark. The low light from the hall didn’t help Evan see Kyle on the bed, not even an outline of his body. Maybe he’d ask Kyle to wait a minute before he started jerking off again, at least until Evan’s eyes adjusted and he could watch him come. Too bad he couldn’t get his voice to work.

Despite the darkness, Kyle had to know Evan was standing there.

The sound of a hand moving over slick flesh started again. Slow at first, then picking up speed until it sounded faster than it had before he’d opened the door. Kyle’s grunts of pleasure grew louder.

That had Evan undone. He ached and wanted nothing more than to touch himself, to come with Kyle.

From TAKE ME HOME by Sloan Parker

Here’s the first preview if you missed it

This week and next I’m wrapping up writing TAKE ME HOME, so I thought I’d share a preview of Kyle and Evan’s story (tentatively scheduled for a December 2011 release).

This is an unedited excerpt from TAKE ME HOME

From the moment right before Kyle and Evan have their first kiss in ten years.

Evan shivered. Which made no sense. He was still warm from the run, the sweat on his skin not even dry yet.

Kyle took another step. Evan wanted him to stop. He wanted to shout all the reasons why this had to stop, even before it got started, wanted to tell Kyle not to move another inch.

He didn’t.

And Kyle didn’t stop coming at him until they were practically touching, Kyle staring down at him.

Evan tried to focus on Kyle’s words, on the news about the journal and his grandpa, but all he could think about was what he’d seen when he’d walked into the apartment: Kyle, all skin and taught muscles, wearing only his tight-as-sin white underwear, the briefs stretched over his cock, and the way Kyle had looked at him in the dim light of the hallway.

Just once. He’s leaving anyway. Evan closed his eyes and forced himself to concentrate on the conversation. He looked up at Kyle again. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” Kyle said the word with a slight curve of his lips. He took a step back and leaned against the wall, looking casual, like he was about to flirt with a bartender for a free drink. “After I read it, I was thinking about that night in the motel room in Iowa on our first drive out here.” He slowly turned his head in Evan’s direction. “Do you remember that night?”

Evan nodded.

“Do you ever think about it?” Kyle’s voice was barely a whisper.

Up until a few months ago, Evan hadn’t let himself, but since he’d moved in with Kyle… “Sometimes.”

“Like right now?”

“Yeah.”

Kyle slid along the wall, traveling the last remnants of space between them. “Ev, I’ve been waiting ten years to finish what we started.” He pushed off the wall and turned until they were face-to-face again, his dark eyes unflinching as he leaned in. He stopped before their lips touched. The heat of that mouth and body so close stoked the fire inside Evan.

His own body reacted, his cock pushing at his shorts. He wanted to shove Kyle against the wall and kiss him until morning, do everything he’d ever dreamed of when it came to touching Kyle, everything he ached to feel about the man.

The smile Kyle gave him next wasn’t the usual cocky one he’d used with countless guys over the years. He leaned in and slid his lips along Evan’s skin from the base of his neck to his earlobe leaving a trail of goose bumps in his wake. He lingered over Evan’s ear and whispered, “You smell so damn good. I want to fuck you, Ev.”

Evan shivered again. “We shouldn’t…” He couldn’t say more. Didn’t want to. The time for talking was over.

My latest short story “SWEPT AWAY” is now available to read at the M/M Romance Group on Goodreads. If you’re not a member you can also read it on my website or download a copy. (For those who are not members of the Goodreads group I recommend you check it out. It’s a great community for readers of m/m romance. Even if you don’t enjoy participating in book discussions there’s a lot of other entertaining and informative threads, even for lurkers, such as reading challenges, book giveaways, author release news, online retailer sales, and more.)

If you check out “SWEPT AWAY” I hope you enjoy it. It’s a romantic one dedicated to Sean who shared the photo and words that started Eddie and Mike’s story.

Blurb for Swept Away
The biggest case of Eddie’s career and nothing’s going right. He’s stuck in a stifling courtroom with the air conditioning on the fritz during the worst heat wave in years, and the judge has denied his latest motion. He just wants to spend a quiet night celebrating with his partner, Mike, on their fifteenth anniversary.

But Mike has a surprise in mind this year. A surprise that may be more than Eddie imagined possible.

Add it to your bookshelf

Thanks for checking it out.
Sloan

Here’s what I’ve learned writing TAKE ME HOME (tentatively due out December 2011):

1. Characters do not always listen to my outline.
2. The book isn’t done until it’s done. I added some really great stuff in the last week.
3. Reading a manuscript while walking around the house is dangerous. For my cats. Sorry, little dudes!
4. In order to really put myself into a scene it’s possible to simulate being freezing cold in a blizzard during 100 degree days using just the power of my mind. And a fan.
5. Writing a scene set during any other time than the past decade requires a lot of research. Even when it’s a simple journal entry from 1953.
6. In the process of editing I read faster during the action scenes and forget to actually edit. “Uh, this is YOUR book, Sloan. Pay attention.”
7. Making my poor characters wait to get off is kinda fun. It makes the sex scene more explosive to write.
8. I should not have two books “in process” with characters names that start with the same initial. In this case…Kyle and Kevin. I had to tell Kevin to get back to his own damn book way too many times. “Dude, get off Evan and go find Walter!”
9. I really love the male body and can describe a blowjob for way too many paragraphs (okay, pages) than necessary. More than anyone would want to stick around to read.

   And the last thing I learned writing my latest m/m romance:

10. It’s helpful to take a character’s clothes off BEFORE attempting anal sex.

If you haven’t checked out Goodreads or the M/M Romance group you should take a look.

What is Goodreads?
“Goodreads is the largest social network for readers in the world. We have more than 4,600,000 members who have added more than 130,000,000 books to their shelves. A place for casual readers and bona-fide bookworms alike, Goodreads members recommend books, compare what they are reading, keep track of what they’ve read and would like to read, form book clubs and much more.” (source: Goodreads)

What is the M/M Romance Group?
“The #1 resource on the internet for M/M Romance fans, this group has something for everyone.

• Book and Series Discussions
• Daily Updates on New Releases and Author News
• Book of the Month Group Reads
• Reading Challenges
• Author Info & Writing Discussions
• Erotic Photos
• Games, Contests & Quizes”

(source: M/M Romance group)

The group currently has 2700 members, and they estimate they’ll have 3000 by mid June. They are also the top 20th most popular group on Goodreads which totally kicks ass when you think about the fact that this group is based on such a small niche market. Definitely a sign that readership and love of the genre is growing.

As a reader of m/m romances, I only wish I had more time to hang out there. If you’re a reader of the genre, you should definitely think about checking out the M/M Romance group.

Felt like posting something sexy today, and since I’m not ready to share my work-in-progress, here’s a quote from another author of gay romance, J. L. Langley. This is from the first kiss between Ethan and Jamie in the The Tin Star.

Ethan knew it was a bad idea, but he just had to taste that sensual mouth. He leaned forward, his lips lightly brushing Jamie’s. Jamie gasped, and before Ethan knew what hit him, Jamie had taken over, his mouth crushing his, tongue pushing for entrance. He grabbed Ethan’s face with both hands and urgently pressed his body against Ethan’s, or as near to it as he could get with them both still sitting. He was rough, aggressive, practically swallowing Ethan up as his tongue searched and caressed every bit of Ethan’s mouth. Finally, he calmed down a little, gentling the kiss, and Ethan had the chance to kiss him back at last. Jamie’s hands slid to his shoulders. Their tongues met and parried. It was like making slow and easy love. Jamie moaned.

It was one of the most erotic things Ethan had ever heard and made him even more painfully erect.

From The Tin Star by J. L. Langley.

You can find out more about Langley’s work at www.jllangley.com

Enjoy your Monday.
Sloan