Why M/M, WIPlash & Other Links

Sharing a collection of links today. Some interesting, some fun, and some more meaningful.

“Why” M/M? And Who Needs To Know?
An interesting post by Jordan Castillo Price.
I will admit, I do get asked the why question and find it so very difficult to put into a few words.

And another about woman writing m/m

The Power of Slash (includes a not-safe-for-work pic)
From Nigel Puerasch, a bi man writing m2m fiction

For the writers out there…

Kimberly Hunter talks about a common problem among writers:
WIPlash ~ Diagnosis & Treatment

And for fun, who would you believe…

A Great Lover
This picture illustrates the difference between marketing, public relations, advertising and branding. For books, a recommendation from a friend with similar tastes holds a lot of weight with me, but not sure if I want to hear from my friends about a potential lover.

Who can resist cute cats getting married…


Image Source

The Gay Cat Marriage in Manhattan and
A Special Bond Recognized

And on a serious note…

Read about the brave and courageous author Patric Michael and the anthology in his honor at For Patric…Wishing on a Blue Star

And this will bring a tear to your eye…


Image Source: The New York Times Company

Against All Odds, a Beautiful Life
“…a little boy dealt a seemingly impossible hand, the two gay men who decided to give him a home and a life, [and] the unlikely spell cast by the only horse in Montclair.”

Oh, and I’ve joined a group blog for my writer’s group. Today I’m blogging about my reading goals this year…

Reading

(c) istockphoto, klosfoto, 2010

Sloan’s 2011 Reading Challenge
Do you like to set reading goals? Do you have a goal for this year? Or do you find a goal takes the fun out of reading? I’d love to hear what you think.

ebooks as ebooks & Congrats to Breathe’s Cover Artist

Recently I decided to enter my 2010 book releases in a few RWA (Romance Writers of America) contests, not only because I am proud of my work (who knows if my explicit love stories will have a shot, but it was fun to enter), but also to support the individual chapters of RWA since the contests are often a way for chapters to earn money.

But I wanted to give my support (and money) to those chapters who recognize ebooks, and not ebooks that are printed and bound as print books (some require you to submit bound books even when entering an ebook). When I’m done entering the contests on my list, I’ll post the names of the chapters to thank them for accepting ebook submissions, but for now, I have news…

Included in the ones I’ve entered so far were two cover art contests.

Well, one of the contests has posted its results, and I’m happy to say, the Loose Id cover for BREATHE (cover artist: Valerie Tibbs) is a finalist in the Dunes & Dreams Picture Perfect Cover Contest. CONGRATULATIONS Valerie!!!

This contest looks at both the cover and the blurb together. Not only do I love this cover and the story (obviously), but I wrote the blurb, with a few tweaks by Loose Id, so I’m really happy with this contest final for many reasons.

Thank you again to Valerie and Loose Id for such a beautiful cover.
Sloan

A Thank-You and My Blog Plans for 2011

(c) istockphoto, EduLeite, 2010

Happy New Year! I hope each of you have a wonderful new year full of fantastic stories to read. As 2010 comes to a close here in the US, I’d like to thank each and every one of my readers for taking the time to check out my first two novels. I know there are many new authors, with loads of stories released every week in this genre, and I truly appreciate all of you for considering my work to be a part of your precious reading time. This has been a year full of firsts and wonderful experiences for me, and I couldn’t continue down this writing path (at least not in this manner) if there was no one to read my stories. Thank you all!! Also I thought I’d give everyone an update on my blogging plans for the coming year. I’ve enjoyed blogging this past year. It was a nice break from writing, and even if I was only posting a quick video or quote, it was fun to share various things I found inspiring, interesting, and entertaining with all of you. This next year, I’m going to continue posting on a regular schedule (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, although hopefully a little bit more consistently than in 2010), but I’m also planning to change up my blog topics. Rather than post to the same categories on particular days each week, I’m going to post about whatever is most relevant to me at the time. Over the past few months, I had several topics I wanted to write about or I saw various links or videos I wanted to share, but it didn’t fit my blog schedule so I didn’t post them. This year, I’d like to share with my readers anything I think you might find interesting (or at least I hope you might find interesting), and also share a bit more about my work and occasionally the work of other authors of m/m romance. So here are some of the categories I’ll be posting to in no particular order on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays of 2011:

  • Announcements/News
  • Writing Updates
  • Excerpts
  • Behind the Story
  • Contests
  • Video I Love
  • Quote I Love
  • Just for Fun
  • Wordless Wednesday
  • Friday Photos
  • Sexy Inspiration

If there are any topics you’d like to suggest or any questions you’d like me to answer, feel free to send me an email. I hope you all have a safe and happy new year. Sloan

Happy Holidays from Sloan

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday and the happiest of new years! Thank you to everyone who gave this new author’s work a try in 2010.

Sloan Parker’s Happy Holidays eBook Giveaway (CLOSED)

No Monday video this week. Instead I’m announcing my 1st Happy Holidays eBook Giveaway.

As a thank you to all the readers who keep the m/m romance genre alive, I’m giving away free eBooks. You guys rock!

Here’s how the giveaway works: One random winner for every 50 entries (up to a maximum of 6 winners) will have their choice from the following options:

  • Option 1: Winner’s choice of 1 of my eBooks.
  • Option 2: Winner’s choice of any 1 eBook available at Loose Id’s website.
  • Option 3: A $10 Barnes and Noble gift card.

Rules and instructions for the giveaway are listed below. Contest closes at 12:00 pm EST Monday, December 20, 2010 or 300 entries (whichever comes first).

Instructions / Rules

  • To enter, leave a comment on this blog post indicating that you’d like to enter. Be sure to include a valid email address in the email form field in order to be considered. Your email address is for my use only (in order to contact the winners). It will NOT be published on the blog or used for marketing/promotional purposes.
  • If for any reason you cannot leave a comment, email me and I’ll post your comment for you (that way everyone can see how many entries there are).
  • Winners are randomly drawn from the total list of entries.
  • One entry per person please.
  • Contest closes at 12:00 pm EST Monday, December 20, 2010 or 300 entries (whichever comes first).
  • Winners will be announced on the blog and privately emailed by 11:59 EST on Monday, December 20.
  • If I do not hear back from the winners with their selections within two weeks, I reserve the right to select another winner.

Feel free to share the link to this blog post. There’s also a direct link to the contest on my website. You can use the graphic at the top of this post if you’d like.

Good luck and thank you again to all the readers. Happy reading in 2011!
Sloan