Mark Cooper Versus America - coming in January

Woot! 

Mark Cooper Versus America will be out on January 28 from Loose Id. 

That's two days after Australia Day, which is fairly good timing for a story about an Aussie boy. At first I thought it would have been perfect if it had been the 26th, but guess what? The 28th is my birthday, so that's even better! Happy birthday to me! 

I like Mark Cooper, lots. Because he's funny, and he's snarky, and he's a little bit sweet and insecure -- not that he'll admit that in a million years. He also knows that the correctly terminology for a guy's backside is "arse". Sounds better than ass, doesn't it? Got a lot more grunt in it. 

For those who don't speak the language, that says "Come on, Australia." Because syllables are for foreigners. 

Anyway, JA Rock and I have got a few fun things planned for the release of Mark Cooper Versus America, and now, given the timing, I think I'll have to dig around in my mum's kitchen and pull out the recipes for lamingtons and pavlovas, just so I can share the Aussie love. 

Okay, the Kiwis will claim they invented pavolvas. Don't believe them. It's a lie. Everyone lied. History lied. It's a conspiracy. They're just saying it because the feel bad that their national bird can't fly and looks like a mop with a pointy beak. 

Okay, so our national bird can't fly either, but it can kick you to death, and that's pretty cool, right? Anyway, before I get too carried away, here's the blurb for Mark Cooper Versus America: 

Mark Cooper is angry, homesick, and about to take his stepdad's dubious advice and rush Prescott College's biggest party fraternity, Alpha Delta Phi. Greek life is as foreign to Aussie transplant as Pennsylvania's snowstorms and bear sightings. When the fraternity extends Mark a bid, Mark makes it his mission to get kicked out by the end of pledge period. But things change when he's drawn into Alpha Delt's feud with a neighbouring fraternity. 

Studious Phi Sigma Kappa Deacon Holt is disappointed to learn Mark's pledging Alpha Delt -- Phi Sig's sworn enemy. Mark's too beautiful for Deacon to pass up an invitation for sex, but beyond sex, Deacon's not sure. He wants a relationship, but a difficult family situation prevents him from pursuing anything beyond his studies. Mark and Deacon's affair heats up as the war between their fraternities escalates. They explore kinks they didn't know they had while keeping their liaison a secret from the brothers. But what Romeo and Juliet didn't teach these star-cross'd lovers is how to move beyond sex and into a place where they share more than a bed. That's something they'll have to figure out on their own -- if the friction between their houses doesn't tear them apart.  

And here is a lovely pavlova: 

Oh yeah, that's at least 600% sugar...