Saturday, March 30, 2013

A glimpse of my personal life

My girl, Lily, and me at Seattle's Gas Works Park today (March 30, 2013). Sunny and 65!

A point of interest--Lily and I share a birthday. She will turn 10 on July 1. And I will be one year older the same day.
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Tuesday, March 26, 2013

My YA Horror Novel DEAD END STREET Is Now in Audio Book!

I am extremely pleased to announce that Dead End Street, my young adult horror novel, is now available as an audiobook on Amazon, Audible, and iTunes. The book was narrated by Rish Outfield and cover art is by Lex Valentine.

What it's about:
The old house at the end of a dead-end street is more of a dead end than anyone realizes...

They are five misfit kids who have banded together in their small Ohio River town. Over the years, they had organized various clubs, and now they've formed the Halloween Horror Club. The premise is simple: each week, each teen spins a horrifying tale, and at the end of five weeks, the scariest story wins a prize. The twist: the stories have to be told in the infamous and abandoned Tuttle house, where, fifteen years earlier, nearly an entire family had been murdered in their beds.

The idea of the club seems like a good one, until the kids begin to realize they may not be alone in the Tuttle house, which backs up against the woods. There seems to be someone - or something - watching them. Is it Paul Tuttle, the son who, while still in his teens, disappeared the night his parents and sister were killed? Or is it someone even more sinister?

With each story (each a completed short, original horror tale that stands on its own), the tension mounts... and so does the anger of the house's mysterious inhabitant. He is enraged at having his space violated, and his rage could mean a real dead end for those who dare to invade his home...

BUY
Amazon
Audible

Listen to a sample. Just click on the button beneath the cover art.

And--I am pleased to announce that, very soon, my novels, IM, Bashed, and Tricks will all be going into audio book production!


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Saturday, March 23, 2013

Cover blurb finalized for my May release, RAINING MEN

Cover blurb for my May release. What do you think? Compelling?

The character you loved to hate in Chaser becomes the character you will simply love in Raining Men... 

It’s been raining men for most of Bobby Nelson’s adult life. Normally, he wouldn’t have it any other way, but lately something’s missing. Now, he wants the deluge to slow to a single special drop. But is it even possible for Bobby to find “the one” after endless years of hooking up?

When Bobby’s father passes away, Bobby finally examines his rocky relationship with the man and how it might have contributed to his inability to find the love he yearns for. Guided by a sexy therapist, a Sex Addicts Anonymous group, a well-endowed Chihuahua named Johnny Wadd, and Bobby’s own cache of memories, Bobby takes a spiritual, sexual, and emotional journey to discover that life’s most satisfactory love connections lie in quality, not quantity. And when he’s ready to love not only himself but someone else, sex and love fit, at last, into one perfect package.
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Friday, March 22, 2013

The Power of Words--and Kindness

Note: This post was originally featured on the site, Reviews by Jessewave on March 21, 2013. 

A Call for Diplomacy, Courtesy, Kindness, Whatever …

A recent post in one of my publisher groups got me to thinking. Anything that gets me to Rick Green Orange (1)thinking is a dangerous thing because it usually leads to me doing something I shouldn’t. But, in this case, I think it’s probably worth following up on.

A writer posted on the m/m romance publisher group that she (with her two-initials first name) had recently received a note from a potential reader, who asked her if she was a male. She wondered how she should respond—and many other writers chimed in, with suggestions for everything from silence to snark to courteousness.

Ever the smart-ass, I surprised myself by coming down on the side of courteousness. This is what I wrote:

I think the e-mail is a little out of line and agree that it shouldn’t matter. But you have nothing to lose and everything to gain by making a polite and honest reply. You might even say you’d love to hear what he thought of your work and if he felt your gender actually made any difference. Handled politely (even though he wasn’t), you may be able to begin to turn this guy’s thinking around and bring a new reader into the fold. Snark, silence, or taking offense will not accomplish that. And my response may not either, but at least you’ve elevated yourself and perhaps opened the door to opening his mind.

I know this issue of gender and writing has popped up here on Jessewave over the years and my answer to whether women can write men and men can write women has always been—it depends on whether they tell a good story or not. As with writing any fiction, whether you have an outie or an innie doesn’t really matter as long as you can write characters that people care about and a world that can enfold you, wherein you and the author conspire together to create something brilliant.

But the whole issue of courtesy is what I wanted to natter on about a bit today. Frankly, I am lately seeing a lot of rudeness and inconsideration from authors, reviewers, and readers.

And it makes me sad. Makes me lament, as Rodney King once did, “Why can’t we all just get along?”

Authors? The best example of rudeness I have seen lately was the dust-up over this year’s GayRomLit. Here we have a small group of people (organizers) working themselves silly to create a retreat that will be an enjoyable experience for those of us who love to read and be read and because of some ill-considered wording, they were suddenly vilified by many, many authors. Pity them for trying to do something nice for the m/m community, for wanting to foster a spirit of acceptance and growth. From some of the comments I heard being bandied about on the web, I expected to hear of Ethan’s Day lynching, or Heidi Cullinan’s tar and feathering, or maybe Damon Suede being flogged (although he might like that). Come on, folks, asking questions and raising issues is one thing, casting the organizers as elitist monsters is quite another. Level-headed discussion would have been so refreshing to see—on both sides of the fence. Now that the furor has died down, this whole brouhaha, in retrospect, looks nothing more like the proverbial tempest in a teapot. I am not saying authors should shut up and write, but that they should, as I hope they do when writing a piece of fiction, think before they speak. Authors, more than anyone else, should understand the power of words—to harm or to heal. Let’s try to remember to communicate with kindness and consideration. Really, it’ll get us so much further. Ask your mom.

Reviewers? Right here, on the Jessewave mainstage, was a recent article lamenting the drop in quality in m/m romance. While the reviewing staff made some valid points (really, who doesn’t want there to be more quality, more care taken to see that there’s quality, and simply all-around better books?), I thought the blanket impression given that m/m is suffering from a decline wasn’t as thoughtful as it could have been. For one, I agree that there may well be more bad books out there than there were a few years ago; the growth of the genre has created a hungry beast and sometimes hungry beasts eat anything. But I do not believe for a minute there’s been a decline. It’s just that the good stuff might be harder to sort out from the bad. It would be lovely if reviewers adopted as their primary task bringing forth the good stuff as a service to readers and well, politely ignoring the bad (which may or may not actually be bad; badness being subjective).

As a reviewer myself (theater and books), I eventually came to the conclusion that I did no one any favors by writing a mean-spirited snarky review damning some poor soul’s creative output, even if that output was utter garbage. It was still someone’s baby and I just don’t believe it’s right to lift your leg and piss on someone’s baby, no matter how ugly the poor child is. Walk on by, as Dionne Warwick once sang. But, you might argue, isn’t a reviewer’s role to warn readers away from the abysmal?

Not really. Oscar Wilde said it best: “The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.” Staying mum on a bad creation is not only a kindness to the creator, it also achieves the same purpose as a pan, maybe better than a pan.

And readers? Much of my plea for kindness goes out to you (I can’t help it; I am both a reader and an author). So before you leave that one-star for someone’s work on Goodreads or slam the creative output of an author because it was not what you expected (and that’s a lot different from being bad), think about what you’re doing and who you might hurt. In the end, when you slam someone’s creative output, you are taking a crap on something someone wrote, really, with only good intentions—to entertain you, to touch you, to make you laugh or cry. Walk on by. Or, if you must criticize, make sure it’s constructive and that you find something, no matter how miniscule, nice to say, along with your diatribe. Never leave a one-star with no words to back it up. That’s just cruel—and one-sentence slams are nearly as bad.

I guess in the end, I hope to get across the message that communication, like magic powers, can be used for good or evil. We always have a choice. How will you use your power?


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Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Save on CAREGIVER and Whistle Pass - EPIC Award Winners!!

2013 EPIC eBook Award Winners

EPIC's eBook Awards 2013


Save 30% in March
on the EPIC (Electronic Publishing Industry Coalition) 2013 eBook Award winners from Dreamspinner Press

Best Contemporary Romance - Caregiver by Rick R. Reed
Best Suspense/Thriller - Whistle Pass by KevaD

Caregiver by Rick R. Reed

Caregiver by Rick R. Reed


It’s 1991, and Dan Calzolaio has just moved to Florida with his lover, Mark, having fled Chicago and Mark’s addictions to begin a new life on the Gulf Coast. Volunteering for the Tampa AIDS Alliance is just one part of that new beginning, and that’s how Dan meets his new buddy, Adam.
Adam Schmidt is not at all what Dan expected. The guy is an original—witty, wry, and sarcastic with a fondness for a smart black dress, Barbra Streisand, and a good mai tai. Adam doesn’t let his imminent death get him down, even through a downward spiral that sees him thrown in jail.
Each step of Adam’s journey teaches Dan new lessons about strength and resilience, but it’s Adam’s lover, Sullivan, to whom Dan feels an almost irresistible pull. Dan knows the attraction isn’t right, even after he dumps his cheating, drug-abusing boyfriend. But then Adam passes away, and it leaves Sullivan and Dan both alone to see if they can turn their love for Adam into something whole and real for each other.

Whistle Pass by KevaD

Whistle Pass by KevaD


On the battlefields of WWII Europe, Charlie Harris fell in love, and after the war, Roger marched home without a glance back. Ten years later, Charlie receives a cryptic summons and quickly departs for his former lover’s hometown of Whistle Pass. 
But Roger Black isn’t the lover of Charlie’s dreams anymore. He’s a married, hard-bitten political schemer who wants to secure his future by destroying evidence of his indiscreet past. Open homosexuality is practically a death sentence, and that photo would ruin Roger and all his wife’s nefarious plans.
Caught up in foggy, tangled events, Charlie turns to hotel manager Gabe Kasper for help, and Gabe is intrigued by the haunted soldier who so desperately desires peace. When helping his new lover places Gabe in danger, the old warrior in Charlie will have to take drastic action to protect him... or condemn them both.

Monday, March 18, 2013

CAREGIVER Wins EPIC eBook Award for Best Contemporary Romance!

I'm so pleased to announce that my love story set in the early days of the AIDS crisis, CAREGIVER, has won the prestigious EPIC eBook Award at EPICON ceremonies in Vancouver, WA on March 16. The book won for Best Contemporary Romance. I am especially happy because lately my writing has shifted from suspense/horror to romance and my other finalist, PENANCE, was in the horror category. I'm not glad I lost on that one, but the fact that I won for romance is validating.

This win means a lot, too, because the story of CAREGIVER has deep personal ties to me. One of its main characters, Adam, who is dying from AIDS in my story, was based on a very significant real person in my life, Jim. I was Jim's AIDS buddy when I lived in Tampa, FL in the early 1990s, when AIDS was a death sentence, the only treatment AZT. Almost everything that happens to Adam in CAREGIVER happened to Jim in real life. Jim remains a very special influence; he will always be with me.

I dedicated my award to his memory--and the victory was bittersweet.

Check out a complete list of winners here.

BLURB
It’s 1991, and Dan Calzolaio has just moved to Florida with his lover, Mark, having fled Chicago and Mark’s addictions to begin a new life on the Gulf Coast. Volunteering for the Tampa AIDS Alliance is just one part of that new beginning, and that’s how Dan meets his new buddy, Adam.

Adam Schmidt is not at all what Dan expected. The guy is an original—witty, wry, and sarcastic with a fondness for a smart black dress, Barbra Streisand, and a good mai tai. Adam doesn’t let his imminent death get him down, even through a downward spiral that sees him thrown in jail.

Each step of Adam’s journey teaches Dan new lessons about strength and resilience, but it’s Adam’s lover, Sullivan, to whom Dan feels an almost irresistible pull. Dan knows the attraction isn’t right, even after he dumps his cheating, drug-abusing boyfriend. But then Adam passes away, and it leaves Sullivan and Dan both alone to see if they can turn their love for Adam into something whole and real for each other.


BUY
Amazon
Dreamspinner Press
Nook

To celebrate CAREGIVER's EPIC eBook Award win, Dreamspinner Press is offering it for a limited time at 30% off. 

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Tuesday, March 12, 2013

The Blue Moon Cafe Has Risen--in Audiobook!

I am extremely pleased to announce that The Blue Moon Cafe, my homophobic werewolf love story, is now available as an audiobook on Amazon, Audible, and iTunes. The book was narrated by Topher Samuels  and cover art is by Lex Valentine.

What it's about:
Someone--or something--is killing Seattle's gay men.
A creature moves through the darkest night, lit only by the full moon, taking them, one by one, from the rain city's gay gathering areas.

Someone--or something--is falling in love with Thad Matthews.
Against a backdrop of horror and fear, young Thad finds his first true love in the most unlikely of places--a new Italian restaurant called The Blue Moon Cafe. Sam is everything Thad has ever dreamed of in a man: compassionate, giving, handsome, and with brown eyes Thad feels he could sink into. And Sam can cook! But as the pair's love begins to grow, so do the questions and uncertainties, the main one being, why do Sam's unexplained disappearances always coincide with the full moon? Prepare yourself for a unique blend of dark suspense and erotic romance with The Blue Moon Cafe, written by the author Unzipped magazine called, 'the Stephen King of gay horror.' You're guaranteed an unforgettable reading experience, one that skillfully blends the hottest romance with the most chilling terror...
(Gay / Dark Fantasy / Shapeshifter / Werewolf / Suspense / Thriller)
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Amazon
Audible

Listen to a sample. Just click on the button beneath the cover art.

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Monday, March 11, 2013

Cover Reveal: Audio book version of OBSESSED



My serial killer novel, Obsessed, is in production right now as an audio book. Expect to see it released around May of this year. But extraordinary designer, Lex Valentine has just created a creepy and amazing cover, which I'm pleased to share with you today.

BLURB

I kill, therefore I am…

 Voices slam through the corridor of his wounded mind. The words of his dead sister cry out. His parents' taunts fill the silent room where he sits and waits--waits for the murderous rage, filling him with strength, driving him to kill, to touch the cold flesh, taste the warm blood--to feel alive again…

A witness has seen him, but his killing only turns her on and now she wants to protect him. His wife suspects him, but the private detective she hired cannot stop him. Joe MacAree fears nothing--except that he may no longer be human.

The thirst that drives him is relentless, moving deeper and deeper into his own shattering, private realm, where each murder is a delicious new gift of life, where revulsion is beauty, and the obsession will never let him go.

 "A harrowing ride through cutting-edge psychological horror, this one's got a vicious bite. Rick R. Reed's Obsessed is a twisted nightmare." - Douglas Clegg, bestselling author


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Tuesday, March 5, 2013

EPIC eBook Award-Winner ORIENTATION Now Available as Audiobook!

I am extremely pleased to announce that Orientation, my reincarnation love story, is now available as an audiobook on Amazon, Audible, and iTunes. The book was narrated by Jack de Golia and cover art is by Lex Valentine.

What it's about:
Christmas, 1983: A young man, Robert, tends to his soul mate, Keith, who is dying from AIDS. Robert tries valiantly to make this a special Christmas for his lover, but loses the fight late Christmas night.

Christmas, 2007: Robert ventures out late Christmas night and finds a young girl about to fling herself into the unforgiving waters of Lake Michigan. He rescues her, and the two form a bond forged from an odd feeling they share of familiarity, and even love. Neither understands it, since Jess is a lesbian and Robert has never been attracted to women.

But there's more...Jess begins having strange dreams, reliving key moments she couldn't know about in Keith and Robert's life and courtship. Robert and Jess begin to wonder if their inexplicable feelings might be rooted in something much more mystical than a savior/victim relationship. As the two move toward and pull away from each other, Ethan, Robert's younger lover, plots the unthinkable. His crystal meth-addled mind becomes convinced there's only one way to save himself, and that is through Robert's destruction.

Christmas 2007 spirals downward to a shattering climax in which both love and lives hang in the balance. There's a murder attempt...salvation...redemption...and a new love is born...

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Audible

Listen to a sample. Just click on the button beneath the cover art.

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Monday, March 4, 2013

ON GLBT Fiction Excerpts: An Excerpt from my forthcoming, RAINING MEN

Today on GLBT Fiction Excerpts, I present a taste of my upcoming (May) new book, RAINING MEN. The book is a spin-off of my chubby chaser love story, CHASER.

This excerpt is a character study—revealing much about the man who is about to find the love of his life, shivering beside a Dumpster. If you've ever given your heart over to a dog, you'll want to read this.

 Check it out here.
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