Be Gentle, It's My First Time: Guest Blog by Alex Whitehall

We have a very special guest at Fantasy Unbound today: a lovely fan and friend of the M/M romance community, Alex Whitehall. (You may recognize Alex from his review blog, Between the Covers, and if you don't, go check it out!)

Last week, Alex went to the GeekyKink event, a kink convention for those who might also be inclined to quote Douglas Adams or Star Wars at you. I'm a bit jealous, as this con was in my backyard (about 40 minutes from where I live), but I ended up being in California and unable to attend. I asked Alex if he'd be so kind as to do a write-up when he got back, and he obliged. So I'll shut up now and turn the floor over to Alex:

From Nov 4-5 I spent my time in a little New Jersey town at The GeekyKink Event.

This was my first time wandering into the world of a kink event, so I have no idea if this was tame compared to others or just about on par. I've also never played before, was going alone, knew no one there, and am painfully shy. I'm not actually sure how I conned myself into going, but its a safe bet it's Rachel's fault. [Editor's note: Of course it was >:-D]

Of course, if I hadn't gone, then I would never have experienced the following, so maybe it was worth it!

There were tons of events, demonstrations, and classes scheduled, plus meet-ups for like-minded folk, an after-care room, and some specialty events that I was too bashful to even glance at. I mostly stuck to the classes (see descriptions after jump).

The classes were educational and the classrooms and hallways were very tame nudity-wise. One class (sensual knife play) had women without tops on and the caning had two women in bra and panties. All very tasteful. I'm sure there were other parts that were kinkier (and involved less clothing), but I didn't venture there and it was built as such that you'd kind of have to go looking for them.

So for the curious, it's definitely a safe place to attend, no one will molest you (um, unless you want them to, I guess!), and it's fun, no matter what your aim is for attending (to get your kink on or to get educated).

While the kink community came across as very tight knit and many people already knew each other, a lot of the staff made it a point to strike up conversation with me (and they actually remembered my name!).

Plus I went shopping ;) Of course there was all sorts of kinky things to be purchased, most of which were out of my price range, and if I had a partner, I may have been more tempted to buy something aside from this adorable amigurimi:



He needs a name, any suggestions?

Crescendo Release Day & Print Book Giveaway!

Howdy folks! Today's the big day--Crescendo's official release day! It's now available at Amazon, ARe, and other major retailers, as well as at Storm Moon Press, of course. And can I just say? Nervous and excited author is nervous and excited. A lot of people have been waiting for this book for almost fifteen months. I worked on this series for three years. I'm very anxious to see if readers find it the satisfying conclusion to the story that I did. One reviewer's posted so far, and it was a lovely review (thank you, M/M Good Book Reviews!), but I'll still be holding my breath for at least a couple weeks.

While I'm suffocating myself, I thought I'd also celebrate and say "Thank you" to all you amazing, wonderful, spectacular readers by giving away a print copy of Crescendo. They won't be out until December, but when they arrive, I'll sign one and put it in the mail to one lucky commenter on this post. I'll draw a winner next Friday.

Some other news as well. As you've probably noticed, it's been a bit quiet round these parts lately. Between Riptide and my own writing, I'm starting to have trouble keeping up with the blog. I still very much want this to be a place where people can come and enjoy themselves, and I'll update at least once a week, but the schedule's going to start getting a little less regular.

Also, did a ton of updates on my website today. Lots of new info for my two new releases (Crescendo and Master Class), and also some new bits on the upcoming works page, mostly about the Kinkapalooza novel I'm co-writing with Cat Grant. We only started putting words to paper less than two weeks ago, but Cat and I have already accidentally won NaNo :-p Almost 60,000 words in already, and no signs of the end yet. This book is gonna be a friggin' doorstop of kink. Very, very excited about it; it feels amazing to be writing again after taking so much time off to focus all my energy on Riptide.

Hmm, I think that's it for now. I'm at a couple different places today: you can read a nice excerpt from Crescendo and maybe win a copy of Counterpoint at Laura Kaye's blog, and I have a guest post at Naughty Boys in the Backseat on the only-half-immortal problem. (Trust me, it's a big problem :-p)

If you've already read Crescendo, do let me know what you think, even if you hated it. If you haven't, say hello anyway to get yourself entered in the giveaway. I'll ship anywhere in the world.

Hugs and love to you all--I'm feeling particularly bouncy today :D

New Book in the Works

Happy Friday, folks! I'm thrilled to say that after all the time-eating (but wonderful!) craziness of Crescendo edits and launching fifteen books at once for Riptide, I have actually begun to write again.

O. M. G. does that feel great.

Last week I escaped the power outages in Jersey by fleeing to Cat Grant's place in lovely Monterey, CA. (See: this:)

And Cat and I have been hashing out the plot of a Big Kinky Book for a while now--a sort of grudgingly willing total power exchange situation between a rich experienced Dom who no longer believes anyone will ever want him for anything but his money and a struggling construction worker whose submissive side is buried so deeply he may or may not actually be submissive . . . but for the right incentive, he's willing to find out.

Cat and I have banged out almost 25,000 words on this already--close to 100 pages!--and we're just getting getting started on act 2. Looks like this'll turn out to be a nice meaty novel, and I'm so excited by it, our boys won't even let me sleep at night. They just keep whispering in my ear, "Hey, how about trying this with us?" or "Wouldn't [insert deliciously pervy thing here] be naughty and fun?" And of course I can never say no to my boys.

I have to fly home in half a week, but here's hoping that by then, we'll have gotten out another 10K of pure pervy play. At the rate we're going, we might even have this thing finished by the end of the year. Very exciting all around, and oh holy crap does it feel amazing to finally be doing what I should be doing again: putting fingers to keyboard and abusing the fuck out of hot hot men ;-p

Guest Blog: Paradise 21 with Aubrie Dionne

Evening, folks! Today we've got a guest author, Aubrie Dionne, who's here to share an excerpt from her new sci-fi romance from Entangled Publishing, Paradise 21. As always, let's start with a blurb and cover art.

 Aries has lived her entire life aboard mankind’s last hope, the New Dawn, a spaceship traveling toward a planet where humanity can begin anew—a planet that won’t be reached in Aries’ lifetime. As one of the last genetically desirable women in the universe, she must marry her designated genetic match and produce the next generation for this centuries-long voyage.

But Aries has other plans.

When her desperate escape from the New Dawn strands her on a desert planet, Aries discovers the rumors about pirates—humans who escaped Earth before its demise—are true. Handsome, genetically imperfect Striker possesses the freedom Aries envies, and the two connect on a level she never thought possible. But pursued by her match from above and hunted by the planet’s native inhabitants, Aries quickly learns her freedom will come at a hefty price.

The life of the man she loves.

Sound interesting? Check out the excerpt and video trailer, beneath the jump.

Book Review: Counterpunch, by Aleks Voinov. 5 of 5 Stars

Apologies for the unexpected silence this week. I was in one of those "Snowtober" areas where the kids got an unexpected week off from school because three quarters of the state had no power. My solution to this was to pick up and fly to California to visit dear friend and fellow M/M author Cat Grant. I'll be hanging here for a couple weeks to catch up on sleep post-Riptide launch and get started on a big kinky book we're co-writing.

In the meanwhile, I wanted to post a mini-review on Aleksandr Voinov's new novel, Counterpunch, which released today. Full disclosure: I was a beta, and it's also set in my sandbox (this story is written in the same world as Anchored and Where He Belongs). That said, Aleks wrote such a beautiful novel I'm downright jealous of how well he handled my sandbox; he built a much prettier castle than I ever did!
Here's the blurb:

Fight like a man, or die like a slave.

Brooklyn Marshall used to be a policeman in London, with a wife and a promising future ahead of him. Then he accidentally killed a rioter whose father was a Member of Parliament and had him convicted of murder. To ease the burden on the overcrowded prison system, Brooklyn was sold into slavery rather than incarcerated. Now, he's the "Mean Machine", a boxer on the slave prizefighting circuit, pummelling other slaves for the entertainment of freemen and being rented out for the sexual service of his wealthier fans.

When Nathaniel Bishop purchases Brooklyn's services for a night, it seems like any other assignation. But the pair form an unexpected bond that grows into something more. Brooklyn hesitates to call it "love"—such things do not exist between freemen and slaves—but when Nathaniel reveals that he wants to help get Brooklyn's conviction overturned, he dares to hope. Then, an accident in the ring sends Brooklyn on the run, jeopardizing everything he has worked so hard to achieve and sending him into the most important fight of all—the fight for freedom.

This is classic Voinov at his finest: dark, gritty, morally ambiguous, dangerous, violent, and sexy as hell. All that plus a genuine romance! If you are a fan of any of these things, I cannot recommend this book strongly enough. When you're done with your first read, you'll want to read it again, and again, and again. Pure love.