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I was delighted to discover that my upcoming title The Seventh Pleiade is up on Amazon and GoodReads.
It won’t be available until November 19th, and the listings are sorely in need of cover art and other goodies. But you can pre-order the book and/or mark it as “Want to Read.” I’d love it if you would! It was also nice to discover a list of customers who have already added it to their to-read list. 🙂
Good news sometimes comes in rushes. Although, truthfully, I’ve been holding onto this item until the publisher’s official press release came out.
My young adult fantasy The Seventh Pleiade has been picked up by Bold Strokes Books!!
The Seventh Pleiade is the story of a gay teen who becomes a hero during the last days of Atlantis. There’s a back cover blurb and my author bio up on Bold Strokes’ website. Bold Strokes Books is the premier publisher of LGBT fiction. I am absolutely, positively over the moon about this!!
There’s a long production schedule ahead, but as things move along, I’ll be proudly sharing the cover art here and information about advance sales and promotional events. The book is scheduled for release on November 18, 2013.
Yes, there will be a RELEASE PARTY! More details on that later.
Here’s the skinny, my “next big thing,” as prompted by author John Copenhaver last week:
What is the title of the book?
Werecat: The Rearing
Where did the idea come from for the book?
It started as an experimental piece. I got turned on to shapeshifter and vampire stories only recently, and, as with most everything I read, those stories made me think: how could I write a great story in that vein from a totally queer point-of-view? Not just with gay or lesbian sidekick characters – I wanted to create a gritty, sexy love story between two men that was central to the plot, and really central to a fantasy world. I’m also fascinated by cats, so writing the fantasy aspect came pretty naturally to me.
What genre does your book fall under?
Urban fantasy
What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?
I actually blogged about that subject before my book got picked up by a publisher. What writer doesn’t daydream about casting her/his work? For Werecat, it’s extra fun because I think feline shapeshifters would have to be sexy and dark. I imagine an underground world populated by hot, scruffy men, high-shouldered and lean, sort of a throw-back to the grunge or heroin-chic model trend of the 90’s. They would have to have great eyes too.
My main character Jacks is a lost, rebellious college drop-out, and I’d be delighted to cast François Arnaud from the Showtime series The Borgias in that role. Jacks’ love interest Benoit would have to be smoking hot with a dangerous vibe. My first pick is Michael Fassbender. Then there’s a supporting character Farzan who may or may not get in between Jacks and Benoit. Farzan is tightly-wound and kind of goofy. He makes me think of Kal Penn from Howard and Kumar.
What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?
Werecat: The Rearing is about a young man who goes to Montréal for Spring Break, gets picked up by a handsome drifter, and ends up on a terrifying and erotic journey into the world of feline shapeshifters.
How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?
Werecat: The Rearing is the first book in a series of novellas, which are 20-40K words apiece. I wrote the first draft in about three weeks.
Who or what inspired you to write this book?
Allison Moon’s lesbian werewolf novel Lunatic Fringe was a major departure point. Beyond her excellent re-imagining of werewolf mythology, her book made me think about the similarities between the shapeshifter trope and the experience of being queer, both in obvious ways like having to hide and being misunderstood, and in ways that are important to me politically and spiritually.
I think there’s something liberating about being able to inhabit two worlds. Queer people learn how to fit in, and sometimes pass within a heterosexual world, and we also cross “genders” at least in our private lives if not publicly. The Native American idea of two-spirit intrigues me – possessing both a female and a male aspect – and I could go on about that subject extensively. Suffice it to say, when I started writing about gay, feline shapeshifters, I found opportunities to explore the different facets of having a dual nature — socially, sexually, and politically.
I also worked a good bit of cat mythology – ancient world and native – into the story. Retold myth and legend is a fairly steady thread in everything I write.
Is your book out in print, upcoming from a publisher and/or represented by an agency?
Werecat: The Rearing will be published by Vagabondage Press and is upcoming in May.
Authors I am tagging next for The Next Big Thing Project:
Lydia Sharp – YA contemporary, fantasy, and romance author and blogger extraordinaire
Charlie Vazquez – Avant-garde author, poet, and master-of-ceremonies for New York City’s underground literati
Christopher Keelty – Fantasy/sci-fi author and civil rights activist
C.A. Clemmings – Author of literary novels and short fiction
My insanely happy news–that I’ve been holding in until it became official–is that my paranormal fantasy novella WERECAT has sold to Vagabondage Press. The anticipated release date is March 2013!!
Earlier in the year, I dropped some hints about the story as it was in progress. There are rounds of editing and proofreading to undergo, in addition to developing promotional materials. The few words I can say for now is that WERECAT is about a young man’s wild Spring Break in Montréal that launches a terrifying and erotic journey into the world of feline shapeshifters.
More to come as marketing rolls out. I am highly honored to have this project picked up by Vagabondage Press, which publishes high quality, unusual stories from underrepresented points of view. You can check out their offerings here.
A writer friend of mine Tim Fredrick is involved in new venture called Newton Literary. It was created, in part, to provide a platform for writers from Queens — my ‘hood for the past decade or so. I thought I’d pass along their inaugural call for submissions.
Newtown Literary is a new semi-annual literary journal published in electronic and paper formats. We look for fiction, creative nonfiction, essays, and poetry that go beyond entertainment and storytelling. The pieces we include for publication have struck us on a deep level. Pieces that juxtapose humor with grief, tell untold love stories, and replace cliché with innovation are examples of works that will find a home in Newtown Literary.
Newtown, the journal’s namesake, was one of the original towns incorporated into the New York City borough of Queens in 1898. Newtown Literary is dedicated to writers from and writing about Queens, NY and allocates half the journal to these writers and their work. But this is not our exclusive focus, as we recognize that Queens is just as much a state of mind as it is a geographic boundary. The diversity of Queens is our inspiration and we hope to fill the journal with diverse stories, experiences, and voices.
The inaugural issue of Newtown Literary arrives late Fall 2012. Submission deadline for this issue is August 4th.
For more information and to submit, visit: http://newtownliterary.wordpress.com