What Boys Are Made Of · Writing

Music in Writing Part 1: What Boys Are Made Of

I’m one of those authors who likes to write to music. Every book I write has a theme song, and beyond that, each character has their own special songs. More may be employed for writing certain scenes or locations, but those two things always exist above all. The overarching song for What Boys Are Made… Continue reading Music in Writing Part 1: What Boys Are Made Of

Saint Flaherty Series · What Boys Are Made Of

Review! Five Stars from The Novel Approach!

A couple weeks ago, in a fit of “I can do this!” I submitted What Boys Are Made Of for review over at The Novel Approach and crossed my fingers.

Lemme tell you, I am glad I did.

Barely a day later Lisa got in contact to let me know she’d love to read my book, and just this morning she sent me a notification that her review would be up today.

And holy shiz, what a review.

Five stars. Count ’em.

I am especially excited that her review confirms what almost every single review so far has said: this book is the one you can’t stop reading.

What makes this novel beautiful is the author’s prose. These characters are all written in flesh and blood, their world drawn in bleak and desperate lines. There is no romance or romanticism in the telling of this story, and it is not an LGBT novel; rather, it’s a novel with LGBT characters, and its heart resides in the misery that pervades.

I haven’t made this declaration yet this year, but What Boys Are Made Of is easily in the running for a favorite read of 2016. Here’s hoping for a repeat performance with Book Two.

!!!!!!!!!

Woah! Alright, I’ve had it. I’ve had my humbling moment, though I’ll admit, it came right after the “run around the apartment celebrating” one. Holy crap!

Go read the rest of the review here!

Saint Flaherty Series · What Boys Are Made Of

I Wrote a Guest Post for Author Marie Sexton!

If you follow my Twitter, you’ve seen me gushing about my latest romance novel finds. “At last, something worth reading! Go buy this!” I’ve shouted into the voids of the internet.

I was talking, of course, about Marie Sexton’s amazing works.

If you’ve read her novels, you know Ms. Sexton’s a fantastic author. Allow me to add that she’s a generous one as well for inviting me to guest post on her website!

Check out this post over on Marie Sexton’s blog!

And, of course, don’t forget to buy her blitheringly amazing novel Trailer Trash. One of its characters, Cody, reminds me of Connor. Well, okay, Connor if he’d lived a very different life. Similar personalities.

…Well, I think so.

Oh, just read it. And read my guest post as well to hear about the difficulties of trying to advertise plot points without, you know, giving them away entirely.

Have I mentioned my book has LGBTQ elements? Because it does. Except they’re massive spoilers.

Okay, enough, go read!

Saint Flaherty Series · What Boys Are Made Of

You’re Invited to My reddit Author Spotlight Saturday

Mark your calendars, set your alarms! This badass author is having an author spotlight over on reddit’s Book board on Saturday, April 23rd.

What is it? It’s basically an ask-me-anything over on Reddit. You can drop by and just say hey, you can ask a question, you can add to the discussion–any or all!

When? It’s April 23rd, from 11am to 6pm EST. That doesn’t mean you need to be there the whole time, it means come by any time! And, to be honest, after; I’ll still be keeping an eye on it. (Though actually I forgot I have a couple things scheduled that day, so I will be in and out. Oops! Guess I’ll just have to make do.)

Where? It’s happening on reddit’s Book board here. On Saturday, I’ll make a thread and the mods will pin it to the top so anyone can drop by. Don’t worry, I’ll be posting links everywhere as well!

And, uh, what is reddit? Reddit’s an anonymous(ish) chat forum that has a billion sub-forums, called sub-reddits. For this spotlight, we’ll be, quite appropriately, on Books!

In order to post there, you will need an account, but they take half a second to make and you don’t even have to give them your email address. It’s easier than accidentally making eye-contact with a vendor at a mall kiosk, but with much better payoff.

If you want to make sure you’ll remember, click that you’re attending on the event page on Facebook–and don’t forget to invite your friends as well!

Want to ask a question about my books? The blog? Tell the world that you’re desperately shipping two characters? Demand if that thing I implied on page 253 was deliberate and, if so, will it be explored in later books? This is the time!

Thanks everyone, and see you there!

 

Interview · Writing

Pushing to the Forefront: Background Characters With RR Willica

Everything—from movies to novels to video games—has its NPCs, the people who weave in and out of the story for one purpose and one purpose only: to usher it along. Yet this doesn’t mean background characters are unimportant. In part 1 of this two-part series, I’ve teamed up with R.R. Willica, author of the Darkness… Continue reading Pushing to the Forefront: Background Characters With RR Willica

Opinion · Short Stories · What Boys Are Made Of · Writing

We Find Small Candles in the Night

[This post comes from an exchange I had last winter about writing characters—specifically why do I write mine the way I write them. It contains spoilers for my short story “The Foreigner’s Loneliness” (read for free here!) It also discusses What Boys Are Made Of, but does not contain spoilers.]     Why do I… Continue reading We Find Small Candles in the Night

Review · Saint Flaherty Series · What Boys Are Made Of

A Fantastic Release-Day Review on Darker Voice!

Travis West has posted a fantastic review of What Boys Are Made Of on his blog, Darker Voice. As he was a big fan of my short story “The Foreigner’s Loneliness,” my fingers were crossed he’d enjoy an entire novel of my writing.

That turned out to be exactly the case!

I was so blown away by the book, that I just had to share my thoughts. This is one of those indie books that is so much better than anything else on the market, it makes you question the entire traditional publishing model. It’s a dark, dystopian western, and it’s certainly not for those looking for something lighthearted and easy-going. But it’s beautifully written and the characters continue to haunt me as I eagerly wait for book 2.

 

You can check out the full review here:

What Boys Are Made Of Review on Darker Voice

[Adult me disclaimer so people don’t get angry: I wouldn’t personally consider any book in the Saint Flaherty series to be YA; it contains quite a bit of strong language. Plus, I aimed it at adults.

That said, sixteen-year-old me would have devoured this book alive. And I had worse language than this book contains. So.

Hand What Boys Are Made Of over to teens at your discretion.]

Current Events · Publishing · Saint Flaherty Series · What Boys Are Made Of · Writing

Announcing the Publication of What Boys Are Made Of

More than four years ago—was it five, was it six?—I wrote a short story late one night. There was nothing of consequence about it, except the voice. It was urgent, and close. It spoke in words you’d hear any day of the week, using grammar that was less than standard. Its metaphors were colloquial, whispers intimate.… Continue reading Announcing the Publication of What Boys Are Made Of

Novels · Publishing · Saint Flaherty Series · What Boys Are Made Of

What Boys Are Made Of Final Preview: Chapter 3

Less than six days until book day, and it’s time for a final preview of What Boys Are Made Of! Yeah, I know. This time next week, I will officially be a published author. Well, okay, yes, my short story was published last fall, but now I will have a book for sale! Oh, wait,… Continue reading What Boys Are Made Of Final Preview: Chapter 3