A Different Kind of Coming Out

Funny how, until very recently, I’ve never given the issue of coming out much thought in my books although it is such an incredibly important one for so many people. What does it feel like for a queer (queer as in umbrella term for any kind of sexual orientation that is not “plain hetero”…) person to be faced with the matter of coming out to their families and friends? It's an incredibly hard moment, definitely, and one that takes a lot of courage. But there is also a different kind of coming out, which is what I’m looking at a bit more closely.

You see, I write all-male erotic romance books. To me, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. It’s what I like, it’s what I’m comfortable with, so you could say, it is a part of who I am. So far, so good. Now here’s the crux. I live in a very rural area. Just to give you an idea of what I’m talking about: it took our local newspaper until last week to pick up on the success of Fifty Shades of Grey (You know, that book). The article summed up the story line in brief and, rather shamefacedly, explained a little about BDSM and a bit more about e-books, making it sound as though either was rather obscure and not altogether morally acceptable – just what I imagine the mini-skirt to have been considered as back in the days.

In other words, these are things and inclinations that exist somewhere out there, but not in this little quiet corner of the world. Needless to say, that this is the same attitude homosexuality is perceived with. Discreet looks, a whisper behind a shamefully raised hand, but not something that is accepted as just another flavour of life.

This short newspaper article reminded me all over again of what it’s like to write – and read – MM erotic romance in such an environment. I’m using an e-book reader obviously, so no-one knows what I’m up to behind the sleek black cover of that little reading device. Mind you, it’s not as though I’d be able to just walk into a bookstore around here and buy a print book of that genre. I’m not sure how people would react if I ordered one. Hmm, might be worth a try, just to see.

Well, anyway, I’d been reading those books for a few months before I wrote the first of my own, and contrary to what I expected, submitting to a publisher and exposing that part of myself to the eyes of complete strangers, was blissfully easy. It still is. But telling my family about what it is exactly that I’m writing about? Friends? Phew. That is a different matter entirely and yes, this is where I’m beginning to draw the parallel to what it must be like for a queer person to come out. It's also a moment that all of my characters have been through at some point in their lives, although the matter of coming out has, until recently, never been much of a topic in my stories. It may be a smite naïve, but I don’t perceive homosexuality – or queerness – as anything other than just a way to live, so I’m finding it hard to relate to the issues some people still seem to have with it.

I have finally tackled that topic in Harlequin, which deals with a closet case. It releases today and you can find out more about it at the bottom of this post, but before you rush off to look at it, I’d love for you to linger and share your thoughts on this topic. Since you’re reading this, chances are that you enjoy the MM genre, too. What’s in it for you? How do you handle your… inclination to reading that kind of books? Do you hide behind the neutral cover of your e-book reader or would you be happy sitting on the bus or underground, or say, in your doctor’s waiting room holding a print copy in your hand with two (or more) sparsely dressed hunks on the cover? What are your thoughts as readers and how do other authors deal with this?

 Harlequin - Out today on www.bookstrand.com/harlequin-sage-marlowe

  

How can you become a family without admitting to being a couple in the first place?

They're an unlikely couple—Harley Sinclair, pilot and openly gay, likes fast cars, easy boys, and late nights. Quinn Lancaster, lawyer and deep in the closet, likes his life quiet with just that little bit of extra spice that engaging in a ménage with his wife, Miranda, and Harley adds. Neither of them can admit that there might be more to this affair than just indecently hot sex.

A lie soon breaks them apart, but when Miranda dies in an accident, Harley and Quinn are reunited by an even more unlikely couple—twin sons with different fathers. While Harley is willing to commit to the responsibility of having a family, Quinn's fear that accepting Harley at his side will destroy everything he has worked for keeps them apart. But when Harley makes the ultimate sacrifice, Quinn realizes that sometimes, what appears to be the worst case isn’t quite so bad after all…

[Siren Allure ManLove: Erotic Alternative Romance, M/M, with M/F and M/M/F elements, HEA]

 This title is offered at a 15% discount. Offer ends midnight CST, August 4th.

Kiss from Harlequin

This weekend I'm final editing Harlequin - only six days now until release, yay! - and just came across this scene where Harley and Quinn are rediscovering their feelings for each other after having split up a while ago. I think it's lovely so... Enjoy!



Something in Harley’s voice made Quinn look at him more closely. He took in the line between Harley’s eyebrows, the quiver of those lush lips.
    “You’re going to be okay,” he whispered and raised his hand to wipe the tears from Harley’s eyes. He thought he’d merely meant it as a comforting gesture, but when Harley tilted his head into the touch, Quinn realized it was the invitation he’d been hoping for all along. Leaning in, he trailed the moist line a tear had left with his lips, kissing it away as he followed it right to where it had pooled in the corner of Harley’s mouth.
The kiss was nothing but a tentative brush of skin at first, but Harley’s lips yielded willingly to allow Quinn’s tongue into the sweet warmth. The salt of Harley’s tears still lingered between them but was soon replaced by a different taste. A taste that had once been so wonderfully familiar. Harley loved kissing and was extremely good at it. Letting Quinn reacquaint himself with his mouth, his own tongue appeared occasionally to play, stroking and caressing Quinn’s in the most sensual way. Quinn’s husky groan was echoed by an equally aroused sound from Harley, one that went straight to Quinn’s groin. He became aware of Harley’s hands on his back and the strong arms around him that gently pulled him on top.
“Sure about this?” Quinn whispered into the kiss.
Letting go wasn’t really an option. Especially not when he could feel the hard prodding against his belly as Harley shifted underneath him and answered in a low growl, “Don’t care. I want you.”
Quinn gasped and abandoned his uncertainty when he felt the hand that rubbed him gently through the thin fabric of his pajama bottoms. It had been too long since he’d been with anybody, and his self-control around Harley had never been that good anyway. He’d be lucky to last more than a few minutes if Harley kept going at that pace, which he seemed to intend doing. Harley’s hips flexed, moving to create the friction they both needed while his hands roamed over Quinn’s body...

Want more?

 www.bookstrand.com/harlequin-sage-marlowe

                   Harlequin releases on July 28th and is available to pre-order at an amazing 15% discount

(offer ends midnight CST, August 4th, 2012)

Blurb:
They're an unlikely couple—Harley Sinclair, pilot and openly gay, likes fast cars, easy boys, and late nights. Quinn Lancaster, lawyer and deep in the closet, likes his life quiet with just that little bit of extra spice that engaging in a ménage with his wife, Miranda, and Harley adds. Neither of them can admit that there might be more to this affair than just indecently hot sex.
A lie soon breaks them apart, but when Miranda dies in an accident, Harley and Quinn are reunited by an even more unlikely couple—twin sons with different fathers. While Harley is willing to commit to the responsibility of having a family, Quinn's fear that accepting Harley at his side will destroy everything he has worked for keeps them apart. But when Harley makes the ultimate sacrifice, Quinn realizes that sometimes, what appears to be the worst case isn’t quite so bad after all…

Oh, and since this is a kiss, I've added it to Victoria Blisse's Sunday Snogs - go check out Victoria's and many other lovely snogs here: http://victoriablisse.co.uk/blog/blissemas-blisse-kiss-under-the-mistletoe
Don't be surprised - Victoria's celebrating Blissemas in July, and she's giving away a $50 e-book voucher (check her website for terms and conditions!)

Harlequin - Available to pre-order

Hi all,

My upcoming July release, Harlequin has just become available to pre-order. Come have a look...

They're an unlikely couple—Harley Sinclair, pilot and openly gay, likes fast cars, easy boys, and late nights. Quinn Lancaster, lawyer and deep in the closet, likes his life quiet with just that little bit of extra spice that engaging in a ménage with his wife, Miranda, and Harley adds. Neither of them can admit that there might be more to this affair than just indecently hot sex.
A lie soon breaks them apart, but when Miranda dies in an accident, Harley and Quinn are reunited by an even more unlikely couple—twin sons with different fathers. While Harley is willing to commit to the responsibility of having a family, Quinn's fear that accepting Harley at his side will destroy everything he has worked for keeps them apart. But when Harley makes the ultimate sacrifice, Quinn realizes that sometimes, what appears to be the worst case isn’t quite so bad after all…


Harlequin is due for release on July 28, 2012 and currently available at a 15% discount from BookStrand.com (offer ends midnight CST, August 4th)

Buy links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Amazon Ca
BookStrand
Barnes and Noble

Pre-Orders available!

Available to pre-order:

(click on the titles to find out more)

:

A Taste of Paradise

 Knives & Feathers

Writing a Gift

Hi all,

I'm over at TEB's Hitting the Hotspot today, talking about what it was like to write Knives & Feathers, one of my upcoming July releases. For your convenience, I have put up the post here as well - enjoy!

Writing can be a lot of things. Most of the time it’s great fun. It definitely is a rush. An addiction. Sometimes it can be a bit of a drag, too, when the story just won’t flow or characters start behaving oddly. And then, sometimes, there are those very rare occasions, when, as a writer, you are blessed. You receive a gift. Everything just fits, the story is there, the characters are so real inside your head you can hear their voices, feel what they feel, and within minutes, you knowthem—not just as characters in a book, but as people. (Help me fend off those guys with the straightjacket, please!) Add to that the luck of having a fantastic team of editors, and you’re in writer’s heaven.

Knives & Feathers is one of those books. The story entered my head, completely unexpectedly, and everything was just there. It didn’t even feel as though I was writing it. No, I was writing it down. It was as if the story already existed and all I had to do was grab hold of it and pin it down.

Consider this my excuse, because in all honesty, I couldn’t have planned to write this book. I simply wouldn’t have dared tackle a topic so sinister, and sinister it is. Chances are it is too sinister for the average taste, but a story like this just isn’t average—at least not if you’re the lucky person chosen to write it (down).

Okay, that’s enough of me blabbing about writing the book, here’s what it’s about:

They say that love can heal all wounds - even the ones that are self-inflicted?

When best-selling author Chester Banning requires inside information on the life of a forensic pathologist, he comes across an enticing yet rather unwilling study subject in the shape of sinfully attractive Dr Nicolas Sheridan.

After a hot and slightly unsettling one night stand, Sheridan turns out to be as inapproachable as he is intriguing but clearly not interested in intensifying the liaison. Chester however finds himself falling head over heels in love and doesn’t rest until he succeeds in cracking Sheridan's icy shell. What he discovers underneath is a man who is well capable of love and affection but caught up in a web of lies spun by his abusive and possessive partner, Jake Simmons.

Led to believe that he is responsible for the death of his past lover, Sheridan's sense of guilt makes him tolerate the mistreatment he receives from Jake and seek punishment in self-harm.

Will the love and support Chester can give be enough to help Sheridan free himself from the demons that haunt him or is all Chester can do watch him go further down the road to self-destruction?

Knives & Feathers is due for release on July 30 but should be available to pre-order any day now. You can find it here: http://www.total-e-bound.com/product.asp?strParents=&CAT_ID=&P_ID=1744

Have a lovely day!

Sage

Sage Marlowe

Taking romance to the edge...

www.sage-marlowe.com

Update: WIP & Contract News

Just a quick note to let you know what I'm currently working on:

Those of you who have read - and hopefully liked - my latest release, Ink, Sweat & Tears, might be interested to hear that I'm currently working on a sequel - well, two actually. Caelan and Dean were just too good to let go, so I couldn't resist exploring their story a bit deeper.
I'm almost two-thirds done with the first one already, so it shouldn't take much longer to get it ready for submission!

I'm also very happy to announce that the sequel to Sub-Mission has just been contracted. The title is Sub-Culture and it follows up on Noah and Pierce's story about five years after Sub-Mission. Again, it's going to be released by Total-E-Bound.

Excerpt: First Kiss from Sub-Mission

Here's a snippet I saved from the old blog - Noah & Pierce's first kiss from Sub-Mission - enjoy!


A small step brought him right in front of Noah and he extended his hands, gently touching him for the first time. Noah quivered a little but stood perfectly still as Pierce ran his hands over his body. Yes, his skin was just as smooth to the touch as it looked.
Pierce trailed his fingers down Noah’s chest to just below his belly button, then along his hips to that firm, well-shaped bottom and up again over his shoulders and to his neck. He curled the fingers of one hand around the back of Noah’s head and pulled him closer. Noah resisted for a fragment of a second, then met Pierce’s mouth. A groan escaped Pierce at that first contact. Noah’s lips yielded under his and a wave of lust rushed through him. He pushed eagerly, opening Noah’s reluctant mouth with his tongue and darted it inside. Warm, moist velvet welcomed him. Noah tasted very nice; of man with just a little minty something lingering on his breath. Moving his other hand to the small of Noah’s back, Pierce pulled him closer and pressed their bodies together in a hard line.

Getting Started

All righty - here I am. Ready to start posting.
My old blog which was attached to my website died the slow and painful death of neglect. The only excuses I can come up with are that it was just too awkward to handle and I was too busy playing with my Muse to keep resucitating it. I'm hoping to do better this time...

So, I'm going to use this brand new blog spot to provide some news on books and ramble a bit when I feel like it. It won't be too often, I'm afraid, because I'm usually busy writing, but that means you'll have more time to read the next must-read ;)

Hope you enjoy and, I just love feedback, so feel free to leave me a comment!