Wednesday, October 21, 2020

Elf Defence is out tomorrow!

 Woohoo! 

Elf Defence is out tomorrow. Or the next day if you're in the US, because timezones are a thing that exist. But it's out on the 22nd of October, whenever that happens for you. 

If you enjoyed the raging stupidity of Red Heir, then you'll be pleased to know that Sarah and I didn't hold back at all when it came to writing Elf Defence! There are elves, gingerbread, a hot cowherd in lederhosen, an even hotter lady blacksmith, guards, trolls, a monster, a missing cow, an angry goose, and as many references to The Sound of Music as we could put in without getting sued. 

Elf Defence is available to buy here: https://books2read.com/elfdefence



Royal envoys Calarian and Benji embark on a quest in the alpine duchy of Tournel. Things go rapidly downhill when the duke plummets to his death from the tower wall. Whoops—that's going to be hard to explain. And it’s not as though they can just grab the nearest human and make him the new duke. 

Or can they? 

Enter one Lars Melker, a slightly gullible cowherd built entirely of muscles and sunshine, who happily accepts their word when they tell him he’s the duke now.

Soon Calarian and Benji are knee deep in teaching Lars how to fake it until he makes it. They're also dealing with mountain trolls, a monster, a missing cow, and, most shocking of all, a growing realisation that their elves-with-benefits arrangement might be turning into something with feelings. 

Add in their mutual attraction to Lars, and suddenly the hills are alive with the sound of emotionally compromised collectivist anarchist elves.

Also, what’s the deal with those leather shorts? 

Tuesday, May 19, 2020

The Dark Space series is coming to audio! Plus, have a free short story!

For anyone who loves some snarky Brady and some patient-as-a-saint Cam, I'm delighted to announce that the Dark Space series is coming to audio! 

You can preorder the first book already, here: Audible

It's out on the 29th! 

And I'm sure you've noticed that cover Brady has had a it of a face lift. This is because, unfortunately, the model for original Brady is no longer available for covers. But don't worry, he'll be staying on the book covers! 

I've also got a tiny freebie for everyone today. New Year's Day was written for the When the Smoke Clears anthology which raised money for firefighters and wildlife following the devastating Australian bushfires. 



And now you can get it for free! 

Download the PDF here. 

Download the mobi here. 

Download the epub here. 


And while I'm remembering in awkward promo mode, have you joined my Facebook readers group Lisa Henry's Hangout yet? This month I'm giving away a signed paperback of your choice, and some Fabula storytelling cards. Also, you can cast your vote there for which characters I have to write a short story about when I hit 250 members, and that short story will be exclusive to the group! So far Nick and Jai from Adulting 101 are in the lead! 

Thursday, April 16, 2020

Dreamspinner

After over six months of lies and bullshit, Dreamspinner has finally paid me what I am owed. Well, presuming their sales figures weren't as much a lie as every other damn thing, but I guess I'll never know, will I? 
And, to make it perfectly clear, just because they have paid me in no way excuses the fact that they stole from me--and countless other authors (most of whom still haven't been paid)--to begin with. 
For the absolute biscuits out there (and I am referring to authors, not readers) who are still living in denial: royalty money is meant to remain in escrow. It is NOT the publisher's money to use for other purposes. It is the authors' money. The fact is, Dreamspinner was paid money by retailers, and that money somehow went missing when it came time to pay it to authors. This is theft. 
Dreamspinner has lied repeatedly. Dreamspinner tried to blame a third party, Tipalti, for the fact our royalties hadn't gone into our accounts. Elizabeth North stated in an email to me that "There are parts of what I do that I don't have control over once I initiate the action. I stated that payments would be sent through Tipalti by 1/10 and they were." What she failed to mention, of course, was that the reason the payments didn't go through was because there were no funds in the account. You can check my Twitter for receipts on that from Tipalti. 
Anne Regan stated to me that "We have paid authors over $13.3 million dollars in royalties over the last decade. All of that income has been properly accounted for and paid out. We hit a crisis in 2019 that we are doing the best to correct." She further stated that royalty money was held in an escrow account. 
It's not a crisis when someone raids the escrow account, Anne, it's theft. 
Also, I don't care if you were a fantastic publisher for a decade. That's irrelevant. That's like saying "Well, my wife and I have been married for twelve years, but I've only been beating her for two." What do you want, congratulations? 
During this whole mess of a journey, I've been called a greedy child by a DSP author for having the audacity to want the money that was stolen from me, as though it just vanished due to some bizarre fluke of fate. Could have happened to anyone, right? Well, no. 
I've worked with publishers before that have closed because they could no longer see a way forward. And guess what? Royalty money was still paid when the business was wound up, because nobody had taken the money from the escrow account. 
If you are an author, do not sign with Dreamspinner. Hundreds of their authors are still awaiting payment. Elizabeth North stated that payment plans would be sent out by the restructuring firm Berger Singerman, and that they hoped to contact the majority of authors by March 15. I am in contact with 160+ DSP authors. That's about 10% of the total number of authors, which should be a decent sample size, right? Guess how many have been contacted about a payment plan? If you guessed zero, you would be correct. In fact, the only authors I know who have been contacted by Berger Singerman are those who have hired their own lawyers. 
These are just some of the lies of the past 6 months. There have been many, many more. 
My opinion as an author: Dreamspinner can go fuck itself. 
My opinion as a reader: I will never buy a DSP book, however good it looks, because I have no way of knowing if the author is getting paid. 
And it's not just the authors who haven't been paid. It's also editors, translators, cover artists and more. 
Oh, and if DSP thought that paying me would shut me up, it looks like they were wrong.

Before I go, here's another easily provable lie from Elizabeth North and Dreamspinner: 
That never fucking happened for the vast majority of authors, many of whom haven't received a payment in six months.

Friday, April 3, 2020

Mustard Seeds and Anzac Biscuits

To celebrate the release of The Parable of the Mustard Seed, I thought it’d be a good time to share the recipe for Anzac Day biscuits, which John’s mum makes in the book. If you’ve never tried Anzac biscuits, they’re very simple and easy to make, and, when properly stored, they last for ages. 
For any US readers who want to give it a try: please note the temperatures here are in Celsius, so you’ll need to convert. 






Ingredients
110 g (1 cup) rolled oats
150 g 1 cup) plain flour
120 g (2/3 cup) brown sugar
70 g (2/3 cup) desiccated coconut
125 g butter
2 tbs golden syrup see recipe notes
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda 
Instructions
Preheat oven to 160 degrees celsius (fan-forced). Grease and line three flat baking trays with baking paper.
Combine the rolled oats, flour, brown sugar and coconut in a bowl.
Place butter, golden syrup and 2 tablespoons cold water into a microwave-safe bowl and heat for 3 minutes, 50% power or until melted. (Or do it on a stove top.) 
Stir through the bicarbonate of soda.
Pour the butter mixture over the oat mixture and stir to combine.
Roll level tablespoons of mixture into balls.
Place on trays, 5cm apart and flatten slightly.
For chewy ANZACS, bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until light golden. For crunchy ANZACS, increase cooking time to 12-15 minutes.
Leave on the baking trays for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Enjoy! 

The Parable of the Mustard Seed is out now from Amazon and is available in KU
The past never stays buried forever. 

John Faimu is an Australian-Samoan police officer who deals with hurt kids every day. He loves what he does, but he’s tired of the grind of shift work, and of trying to find a balance between his job, his family, and the young man who straddles the increasingly blurry line between both. 

Caleb Fletcher was the teenager John saved from a cult eight long years ago, and he’s now the young man John wants in ways that neither of them should risk. 

Eight years after his rescue, Caleb is still struggling with PTSD and self-harm. John has always been his rock, but now Caleb wants more. Can he convince John to cross a line and love him the way they both crave? And when the monsters from Caleb’s past come back seeking to silence him for good, will John’s love be enough to save him? 

The Parable of the Mustard Seed is an mm gay romance featuring hurt/comfort, first times, found family, and angst with a happy ending. 


Sunday, March 22, 2020

Recipe For Two - Out Now!

Recipe for Two, the second book I've cowritten with the amazing Tia Fielding, is out now on Amazon and other retailers!

Recipe For Two can be read as a standalone, although it is set in the same universe as Family Recipe. It's not quite a sequel though! If you liked four-year-old Wyatt in Family Recipe, then you can read Recipe For Two to see how he's all grown up! 



Wyatt Abbot is 19. On the outside, he lives the perfect life. He has a loving family, he’s wealthy, and he has just been given the opportunity to travel to Paris and train under one of the world’s best pastry chefs. But underneath all that, Wyatt is struggling. He’s battling anxiety, he’s scared of the future, and he’s struggling to come to terms with the fact that he’s genderfluid.

Izzy Kostas is 28, and on parole. When he gets a job at Abbot Organic Produce, it’s a chance for a new start. Izzy has his own demons he’s trying to overcome, but meeting Wyatt throws even more complications his way. Izzy has always thought of himself as straight, and certainly didn’t expect to fall for his boss’s little brother.
When Izzy is blamed for putting the Abbots at risk, it jeopardizes everything he and Wyatt have begun to build together. Izzy knows how important family is to Wyatt, and he doesn’t want him to have to take sides. But when it comes to found families, nobody is perfect, and there’s always room for another seat at the table.



Buy it here at Amazon. 

The Parable of the Mustard Seed - preorder now!

The Parable of the Mustard Seed is now out for preorder on Amazon. It will be released on April 3. How gorgeous is this cover by Natasha Snow? 


The past never stays buried forever. 

John Faimu is an Australian-Samoan police officer who deals with hurt kids every day. He loves what he does, but he’s tired of the grind of shift work, and of trying to find a balance between his job, his family, and the young man who straddles the increasingly blurry line between both. 

Caleb Fletcher was the teenager John saved from a cult eight long years ago, and he’s now the young man John wants in ways that neither of them should risk. 

Eight years after his rescue, Caleb is still struggling with PTSD and self-harm. John has always been his rock, but now Caleb wants more. Can he convince John to cross a line and love him the way they both crave? And when the monsters from Caleb’s past come back seeking to silence him for good, will John’s love be enough to save him? 

The Parable of the Mustard Seed is an mm gay romance featuring hurt/comfort, first times, found family, and angst with a happy ending. 


Preorder now from Amazon. 

Monday, March 2, 2020

When the Smoke Clears


When the Smoke Clears is a gay romance anthology that contains stories related to the 2019-2020 Australian bushfires and the heroes who helped control them and save lives. It is a multi-author anthology raising money for the Country Fire Authority and Wildlife Victoria. 

Authors include Ann Grech, Becca Seymour, Bronwyn Heeley, L.J. Harris, L.J. Hayward, Lisa Henry, Louisa Masters, Meg Bawden, Naomi Aoki, Nic Starr, T.A. Bellmond, & Zoe Piper. 

Stories included:

A Little Bit Like Love by Ann Grech 
High Alert by Becca Seymour 
Safe in His Arms by Bronwyn Heeley 
Every Picture Tells a Story by L.J. Harris 
Flying Embers by L.J. Hayward 
New Years Day by Lisa Henry 
After the Blaze by Louisa Masters 
Smoke and Ash by Meg Bawden 
Wild Heat by Naomi Aoki 
Facing the Heat by Nic Starr 
When Sparks Fly by T.A. Bellmond 
Cinders by Zoe Piper



You can buy it here on Amazon. Paperback and other retailers coming soon. 

I'm so glad I was able to contribute to this anthology.

The devastation of the fires in Australia was on an unprecedented scale, and if you'd like to do something to support two very worthy organisations, then please consider buying a copy of this anthology. 

All proceeds go to Country Fire Authority (Vic) and Wildlife Victoria. 

And thanks, of course, to the organisers and other contributors of the anthology, including all the amazing editors who donated their time and their skill to this cause.

Tuesday, February 4, 2020

Audio titles - coming in 2020

I'm super excited to announce that today I signed a contract with Tantor Media, meaning that in 2020, Anhaga will be coming out in audio. 



And that's not all! I hope fans of the Dark Space series are as happy as I am when I tell you that Brady and Cam are coming to audio as well! 



Thank you to everyone over the past few years who asked about getting Dark Space into audio. This was a huge step into the unknown for me as all these titles are now self-published, but you gave me the boost to get out there and find out if there was a way to make it happen. 


Friday, January 24, 2020

You can now find my back catalogue on KU

I hope everyone is having a great start to 2020. 

I figure sometime around June I'll stop calling it 2019 and finally catch up. 

For all my old readers out there, and hopefully for some new ones, I just wanted to let you know that you can find my back catalogue on Kindle Unlimited as of this month. This isn't a decision I undertook lightly. I hate Amazon's business practices of strangling all the competition, but this is a decision I could no longer put off for financial reasons. 

I hope that doing this will enable me to keep writing and publishing books that my readers enjoy. 




I have a few new releases coming out soon from a publisher that of course won't be available on KU, and should go wife, but my back catalogue will remain on KU for the foreseeable future. 

Thursday, January 2, 2020

Happy New Year!



I hope that everyone is having a great start to 2020, and that we all have a fantastic year. 

I have a few things planned for this year: I have two books coming out early in the year from JMS Books, co-written with the amazing Tia Fielding. I can't wait to share more info about them! Our first is an age gap romance with a lot of angst, and a lot of feels to make up for it! I'm also working on the next Playing the Fool book with J.A. Rock, so get ready for some more Henry and Mac. In addition to that, I'm working on a WIP called The Parable of the Mustard Seed, set in Brisbane, about a police officer and the boy, now a young man, he rescued from a cult nine years ago. And if that's not enough to be working on, I'm also going to be starting a modern (and dark!) retelling of The Emperor's New Clothes. One word: voyeurism! So that's probably enough on my plate for now, right? All those other plot bunnies can shush up for a month or two in the meantime. 

Also, 2020 is the year that I'm going to be moving my self-published works to KU. Make no mistake, I hate KU and I hate the Amazon model that basically sucks the life out of every other marketplace, but unfortunately I'm not in the position where I can ignore the financial benefits of KU any longer. If I want to keep writing, and I do, then I think that KU is the best way forward for me. 

In other news, I've finally started a Facebook reader group, and I'd love it if you joined me in Lisa Henry's Hangout

I'll be doing regular giveaways there, as well as sharing snippets from WIPS, and creating some polls so you guys can tell me what I should be working on next, and what you'd like to see in my next book! Not gonna lie, there will also be lots of pictures of my cats. So come along and join the fun! 

Happy 2020, everyone!