Mark Cooper and Brandon Mills are back!

For anyone wondering where Mark Cooper and Brandon Mills have got to, J.A. Rock and I were in the process of re-releasing them. And now they're back, and reminding us really, really loudly that it's about time we got to work on the third book in the series, right? 

Shut up, you guys, and go back to studying. That means you especially, Mark. We're sure you're failing every damn class. 

(Brandon, sweetie, you're doing just fine!) 

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 Mark as Pennsylvania’s snowstorms and bear sightings. So, when the fraternity extends Mark a bid, Mark vows to get himself kicked out by the end of pledge period. But then he’s drawn into Alpha Delt’s feud with a neighboring fraternity.

Studious Deacon Holt is disappointed to learn Mark’s pledging Alpha Delt, his fraternity Phi Sigma Kappa’s sworn enemy. Mark is 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 their brothers. But what Romeo and Juliet didn’t teach these star-crossed 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, and between Mark and America, doesn’t tear them apart.

You can buy Mark Cooper versus America here at Amazon, or here at B&N. Links will be updated on my website as we get them! 

Smart, shy Prescott sophomore Brandon Mills is working hard to overcome his troubled past and be normal. Life at Prescott, and in his fraternity, Phi Sigma Kappa, is good. With the help of his friends Mark and Deacon, Brandon is slowly coming out of his shell. When he accidentally drenches a freshman in orange soda, though, he faces something he’s not ready for: a boy crushing on him.

Alex Kekoa pledges Phi Sig because it has everything he wants--a house full of nerds who won’t tease him for being smart, a dog, and Brandon Mills. Brandon is just the type of guy Alex needs to help fulfill his college ambition: losing his virginity. Except Alex doesn’t know that Brandon can’t stand to touch or be touched.

When Alex and Brandon are drafted onto the Phi Sig Academic Challenge team, they start spending time together. If there’s anyone who can help Brandon discover it feels good to touch and kiss, maybe it’s klutzy Alex with his cute glasses and his dinosaur obsession. But as the competition--and their relationship--heats up, Alex’s determination not to die a virgin clashes with Brandon’s vow of lifelong celibacy, forcing them to examine what’s truly important to each of them about love.

You can buy Brandon Mills versus the V-Card here at Amazon, or here at B&N. 

Back home, and back to work!

Well, I’m back from GRL. Okay, I know everyone’s probably already finished talking about GRL since they all got home ages ago, but I only got home last week. If I had to fly halfway around the world to go to GRL, I was taking some extra time to see some of the US while I was at it.

I met some wonderful people at GRL, way too numerous to mention here. Seriously, I’m not mentioning names because I know that I’ll leave someone out. A special shout out has to go to JA Rock and Lori Toland, my roomies. And, of course, my favourite roomie - the professor. OMG, look at that face: 

It was fantastic to meet all those people I’ve only ever met online before – the readers, the bloggers, and the other writers who make the MM community a great place to be.

I had quite a few fangirl moments, and was totally gobsmacked when some people had them in relation to me. In fact, I think  I’m still gobsmacked about that. To me, writing is something that happens at odd hours of the night when I’m in my pyjamas and rocking out to eighties music. The idea that it somehow produces real books, let alone real fans, is still incredible to me.

So thankyou to everyone I met, and, if I somehow managed to miss you, I’m going to try very hard to make San Diego.

Meanwhile, while I took the month off from blogging because I was having too much fun, Brandon Mills versus the V-Card happened. JA Rock and I are writing the third book in the series now – Liam McDermott versus Authority. It’s a return to the kink of the first book, and maybe a little more angst. Let’s just say Liam has some issues.

JA and I are also working on another book in the Boy series – it’s time to revisit Lane and Derek, and Brin and Ferg and, naturally, Mr. Zimmerman. While I don’t want to give away any spoilers at this point, I just want to say that Mr. Zimmerman is going to get soul mate. And, in other Boy news, The Boy Who Belonged is now available in paperback. Also included in the paperback is the Brin-centric short story, The Naughty Boy. Yay!

It’s the season of short stories, apparently. JA and I have one coming out in December, Fall on Your Knees. It’s M/M/m, and a part of Loose Id’s Rated XXXmas anthology, which is so far scheduled for release on December 16.   And it’s a total, total kinkfest. You will never look at gingerbread the same way again. You’re welcome!

Meanwhile, Heidi Belleau and I wrote a short story for Riptide’s BDSM anthology, Rules to Live By. Our story is called The Harder They Fall, and did anyone say daddy kink?

I'll be sharing more about both the anthologies as soon as I can! 

So, that’s the state of play at the moment. I’m home, and I’m trying to get as much work done as I can. And I am not at all spending too many hours a day reading Sterek fan fiction. Or writing it. Not. At. All…

Sterek!

This Week's Round Up

I was really, really sad that GRL ended. Why can't I live in a nice hotel all year round and talk about writing smutty scenes with hot guys all the time? Is that really too much to ask? I don't think so.

GRL was fantastic, obviously, Also, JA Rock and I announced (well, I announced it first, in public, so we can't later change our minds) that we are writing a third book in the Boy series. What have Derek and Lane been up to? Going by the response to this news in the BDSM panel, people actually do want to know! So we'll be starting writing that as soon as I get home from the US and am not relying on other people's computers. 

We may have also planned out about the next seven months of writing projects. Shit got real. Also, there was wine. And Maltesers. 

And guess what's out in only four more days? It's Brandon Mills versus the V-Card! Dinosaurs and cute, shy guys and omigod! I really hope you guys love this one. Brandon and Alex are much, much sweeter than Mark and Deacon, and we have some all-important awkward first time sex in this one. First time sex in books and movies is usually choreographed so beautifully, isn't it? Nobody ever gets an elbow in the face or an inappropriate attack of the giggles. 

And in other awesome news, The Two Gentlemen of Altona is available for preorder on Amazon! Yay! You should order it. Oh, and also get some Skittles and donuts. You'll want those! 

So, to sum up. Chicago was fantastic. San Francisco is fantastic. I'll be home in a week, and hanging around on FB and Goodreads again then! See you soon! 

Brandon Mills is almost here!

Brandon Mills versus the V-Card is out on October 28 from Loose Id! Here's the cover. And look! Brandon's holding a protoceratops! 

Smart, shy Prescott sophomore Brandon Mills is working hard to overcome his troubled past and be normal. With the help of his friends Mark and Deacon, and his brothers at Phi Sigma Kappa, he’s slowly coming out of his shell. But when he accidentally drenches a freshman in orange soda, he faces something he’s not ready for: a boy crushing on him.



Alex Kekoa pledges Phi Sig because it has everything he wants: a house full of nerds who won’t tease him for being smart, a dog, and Brandon Mills. Brandon is just the type of guy Alex needs to help fulfill his college ambition: losing his virginity. Except Alex doesn’t know that Brandon can’t stand to touch or be touched.



When Alex and Brandon are drafted onto the Phi Sig Academic Challenge team, their mutual attraction grows. If there’s anyone who can help Brandon discover it feels good to touch and kiss, maybe it’s klutzy Alex with his cute glasses and his dinosaur obsession. But as the competition--and their relationship--heats up, Alex’s determination not to die a virgin clashes with Brandon’s vow of lifelong celibacy, forcing them to examine what’s truly important to each of them about love.

Also, if you're not following Queer Romance Month, you should be. Seriously check it out though, because there are a lot of fantastic posts over there, and a lot of awesome stuff to win. JA and I wrote a post talking about coming out, and why we don't deal with it much in our writing -- until Brandon -- but how it's still a big deal in the real world, and will be for a long time. 

Coming Soon - Brandon Mills versus the V-Card

In exciting news, JA Rock and I have a release date for Brandon Mills versus the V-Card, the second in our Prescott College series. For those of you playing at home, the date is October 28!

Dinosaurs. Brandon and Alex love them.

I don’t know what it is with the Prescott books, but the timing is always terrible for me when it comes to promo. When Mark Cooper versus America came out, I was in hospital and, despite all my best intentions to get some work done while in there, I spent a lot more time being unconscious than I’d intended. Also being on drugs that made me very happy and floaty.

Brandon Mills is out the week after GRL, and I’ll be in San Francisco that week with my friend Kate, who I met a gazillion years on my first day of school at Goondiwindi State High. So, once again, the lion’s share of the blogging and stuff will be down to JA. But I will totally pay her back in chocolate. She knows I’m good for it.

But you can’t have a sequel without a three-quel, right? That’s a word now. So, from the kinkfest of Mark Cooper versus America, to the awkward sweetness of Brandon Mills versus the V-Card, to:

Ta da!

Liam McDermott versus Authority.

This is the working title for our third Prescott book. And yes, there will be kink. There will be a D/s relationship. And, for Liam McDermott, college will mean a very steep learning curve.

  

Brandon Mills versus the V-Card

In exciting news, JA Rock and I have signed a contract with Loose Id for our Mark Cooper versus America sequel – Brandon Mills versus the V-Card. Not our original title, as you guys know, but we like it!

Brandon is Mark Cooper’s best friend, but they couldn’t be more different. Mark is reckless, loud, and would rather stab himself in the eye with a pen than actually do any work, while Brandon is quiet, sensible, and studious. He also feels sick at the idea of intimacy. Even a simple hug takes him to a place he doesn’t want to go.   

Because of this, Brandon Mills has a different feel to Mark Cooper. Mark Cooper was about two guys—both out and proud—negotiating a burgeoning relationship while also figuring out their kinks, Brandon Mills is about two guys who are both completely inexperienced. One of them, Alex, is desperate to lose his virginity now he’s at college, while Brandon, who has almost convinced himself he has no interest in sex, is terrified of his attraction to Alex.

For Alex, it’s love at first sight. Brandon is cute, and smart, and he has a plastic dinosaur on his desk. It’s clearly meant to be.

Alex may just be the cutest character JA and I have ever written, by the way. He’s incredibly smart, a little nerdy, clumsy, and what he lacks in experience he makes up for in enthusiasm. Awkward bus BJ, anyone?

And don’t worry. Mark and Deacon are still in this book. Deacon’s being as supportive and caring as always, and Mark’s being Mark. Our favourite football player Blake is back as well, and this time he’s on a mission. A completely misconstrued mission.

We don’t have a release date yet for Brandon Mills versus the V-Card, but as soon as we do, we’ll let you know!

Amazon versus Virginity

As some of you may know, JA Rock and I have been advised by our publisher to change the title of our Mark Cooper versus America sequel, which was called Brandon Mills versus Virginity. Because Amazon would refuse to list it with that title.

When I mentioned this on Goodreads, a few people pointed me towards this book:

Why is this book allowed to use the V-word, but we aren’t? I suspect that it’s all to do with the way this book is tagged. While this book, for all I know, might be full of sexy good times, it’s not listed as erotica or erotic romance, so it escapes the cull. Here’s how it’s categorised on Amazon:

Actually, there is a heap of books on Amazon with the V-word in the title. There are books about this woman:

And this man:

And this product:

And, yes, even virginity exactly as it pertains to sexual experience, or lack thereof:

The title, if you can’t read it, is Virginity: A Treasure. Personally an idea I find more disturbing that a lot of stuff in erotica (yes, even counting monster porn) but that’s a discussion for another day.

So what’s the big deal about the word virginity in our title, Amazon? Brandon Mills is nineteen. He’s an adult, who happens to be a virgin. It’s not unusual. It’s also not unusual for a nineteen year old college boy to spend a lot of time obsessing about his status.

What’s frustrating about this, as JA pointed out in an email, is it’s about sex. It’s fairly obvious that Amazon is only targeting erotica and erotic romance titles. You don’t see the same rules being enforced on writers of chainsaw blood-splattering gore, do you? And why should you? It’s ridiculous. Adults have the right to read what they want to read.

Except, apparently, when it comes to sex. Then a quick glance at the title – not the content, mind you, but the title alone – will allow Amazon to make the decision for you. Because there is absolutely no content in Brandon Mills that crosses any boundaries. The sex is consensual, and it’s sweet and funny and awkward. There’s not even any kink in it! Okay, there’s a mild dinosaur fetish, but that’s kept out of the bedroom.

Here’s what JA wrote in her email, which sums it up nicely:

I think the way they're doing it now does come off as an attack on sex. Because I don't see the same kind of scrutiny being applied to books in the thriller genre--notorious for exploitative depictions of maimings and murder and sexual assaults. So why should a romance that depicts those things--as long as it's in a negative light--be any different?

Come on over here, double standard. Step into the light so we can all see you. 

And, you know what’s most annoying about this entire thing? The fact that Amazon pretty much owns the universe. What Amazon wants, Amazon gets. As much as a part of me wants to says “Fuck you, Amazon!” and publish only to other retailers…well, that would be a pretty dumb financial decision. Amazon is the market.

It would just be nice if the market took its head out of its arse one day soon. 

In the meantime, I hope you'll all enjoy Brandon Mills versus the V-Card when it comes out!