Love Rampage release date

Today is the day we’ve all been waiting for!

At least, I’ve been anxiously awaiting today for at least a month. Today is the release date for Love Rampage!

As any author can tell you, waiting for a release date is like being on pins and needles for the entire day. Is my book doing well? Do people like it? What if my book actually sucks and no one noticed until now, but the readers will?

Luckily, I have a little reassurance.

First of all, I’m not alone! I’ve got seven other lovely authors who also have their stories coming out today in the Geek Out anthology. I’ve gotten to know a few of them pretty well, because right now, there’s a wonderful blog tour going on!

Check out Smoocher’s Voice, World of Diversity, and Love Bytes over the next few days for a chance to read about the books available and for a chance to enter a giveaway!

Blog Tour Schedule:

January 22nd: Alex Powell

January 23rd: Cecil Wilde

January 27th: Alison Evans

January 28th: Alden Lila Reedy

January 29th: Francis Gideon

January 31st: J.K. Pendragon

February 6th: Caitlin Ricci

February 7th: Francis Gideon

February 8th: Alessandra Ebulu

We have an awesome author chat coming up soon with Rainbow Gold Reviews, so I’ll tell you about that later!

I’d also like to share with you one of the great reviews that my book has already received! I’m actually really pleased with this review, because the reviewer definitely understood exactly what I was trying to do with the story.

So here it is! Bending the Bookshelf gave me an amazing review!

So that’s it everyone. Love Rampage is out today with Less Than Three Press, and it’s a book I’m particularly proud of. This is also the first book I’ve taken a really big role in trying to promote, so let’s see how that goes!

Why Unicorns?

Hey all!

I’m doing a couple of stops on my blog dedicated to Love Rampage, which is being released on the 28th of January.

So some of you may be wondering: Why Unicorns?

First of all: I love unicorns

Second of all: my friend Laurence also loves unicorns, and he told me to write a story about a girl who was obsessed with unicorns. I have an inkling he might have been joking, but I have been known to write on ridiculous prompts before. I’ve dedicated this story to him, mostly because it was his prompt that got me writing this.

Before you ask: no, unicorn is not some sort of euphemism for something else. I really do mean that there is an actual unicorn in this story, and when I say “rampage,” I really do mean that literally.

Unicorns are magical creatures of myth that have been depicted by humans since antiquity. Most people think of unicorns as beings of purity, uncorrupted. They are usually depicted as having an affinity for virgins. In some tales, they can purify water or heal people with their powers.

I wanted to use the symbol of the unicorn to represent the purity of Maira’s love for Carol. Her worry that Carol will not love her because she is trans is something that she must overcome. She has to learn that her love is just as valid as anyone else’s.

Her love is pure, but I am not trying to suggest that either of these girls must be a virgin because of the presence of the unicorn. People may read it that way as they want, but the idea that one should remain pure of body, or that virginity will make one pure is something that I don’t want to spread. I do not agree with virgin idealization or with slut shaming, or with shaming anybody about their level of sexual experience.

Some people might say, “But Alex, those girls are just teenagers, they shouldn’t be having sex at their age!” Too bad. Some teenagers have sex, and that is the truth.

I also think of unicorns as creatures of adventure. Unicorns are untamed magical creatures, and I like to think that they would only approach those that are pure of heart and have good intentions. Maira certainly discovers what it is like to go on an adventure with the unicorn in this story!

And for anyone who used to love The Unicorns of Balinor series, or The Last Unicorn, or even The Black Unicorn by Tanith Lee, Maira might just be a girl after your own heart.

Thank you Laurence, for this idea, and for many others before it!

This is one of the stops on my blog tour for Love Rampage, so leave a comment below and your email address for a chance to win a $10 gift certificate with Less Than Three Press!

Geek Out Blog Tour

Hey everyone!

Sorry I’ve let the blog posts go awhile without updating, but I’ve been super-busy!

Not only have I started going to university again, but I’ve been organizing a blog tour for the trans* anthology Geek Out published with Less Than Three Press.

What is going on with this blog tour?

Well, let me tell you, since I’ve finally seemed to get a grasp on what’s going on!

The Geek Out anthology includes 8 authors:

Francis Gideon with Sext-based Adventures

https://francisgideon.wordpress.com/

Caitlin Ricci with Horse Crazy

www.caitlinricci.com

J.K. Pendragon with Double Take

www.jkpendragon.com

Alison Evans with Long Macchiatos and Monsters

alisonwritesthings.com

Alessandra Ebulu with Of Anime and Baeci

alessandraebulu.wordpress.com

Cecil Wilde with Defying Convention

www.cecilwilde.com

Alden Lila Reedy with Manifest

aldenlilareedy.com

We have all written a story with a trans* protagonist, and we all feel that because this is a trans* anthology, we need to go all out with getting the word out. People are asking for representation in media, and we’re delivering. But without people knowing about it, then there’s not much point!

I see people writing fanfiction with trans* or genderqueer characters, writing ace or aro characters, genderbent characters, because they are lacking that what they really desire: representation. There are no stories out there about these types of characters that portray them in stories that are not a) specifically about their trans*-ness or b) tragic.

So we’re doing a blog tour. It’s a really fun time, actually, apart from the logistics and organization, which really aren’t my strong point. But you’ve got to try, right? I hate trying to organize things, but I’ve learned sometimes you’ve got to do things you don’t enjoy in order to promote the things you actually like doing.

It was a bit of a challenge, because while there were a LOT of m/m review sites, there are far less review sites that do trans* story reviews or blog tours. Thankfully, with the help of our amazing publisher Megan Derr, we were able to find a few.

Here’s the sites where our guest blog posts will be showing up over the next two weeks.

We’ll also all be doing blog posts on our own blogs, so make sure to check them out! Of course, I’ll be compiling a list of links for you all to get the big picture once they’re all up, so stay tuned for that!

The first stop on our blog tour will be at Smoocher’s Voice, and my blog post for Love Rampage on January 22nd!

Also, make sure you check them all out, because authors are doing giveaways for all sorts of fun stuff! Gift certificates, ebooks, naming a character in their next novel… so make sure to leave lots of comments for a chance to win!

Dragons? Dragons.

I’ve been a bit out of the writing game for a while. I had a lot of work which took up so much of my energy that I didn’t do almost any writing at all for six months.

I’m trying to get back in the game, and I’ve decided to start off by writing an ace/aro queerplatonic relationship for the Solitary Travelers collection. I’m always looking to expand my character diversity, and asexual and aromantic characters are definitely in the minority.

Added note for definitions on these terms:

Asexual: experiencing little or no sexual attraction (note: does not necessarily mean that an asexual person never experiences desire, nor does it necessarily mean that person would not have sex for some reason or hasn’t had sex.) Ace for short. Asexual people can have romantic attraction and a romantic relationship.

Aromantic: the opposite of asexual. Aromantics experience little or no romantic attraction. Aro for short. Aromantics are not necessarily asexual. Some might have sex just because they want to, without the need for a romantic attachment to their partner.

Ace/Aro: someone who is both asexual and aromantic.

Queerplatonic: a very strong, intense relationship that is not necessarily sexual or romantic. Not quite the same as having a strong friendship.

I’ve also wanted to try and expand on my writing voice and style. So I’ve decided to try writing something a bit different.

I want to write a story about dragons.

Right, I know what you’re thinking. Everyone and their auntie has written about dragons, and a LOT of people have written stories about dragonriders. Everyone loves dragons, and I really can’t blame them, because dragons are awesome. And being a dragonrider is probably the childhood dream (or adulthood dream?) of our generation.

I want to write the story from the dragon’s POV. And in this case, the dragon is also the ace/aro character, and the queerplatonic relationship is between the dragon and their rider.

His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik alternate historical fantasy

If any of you have ever had trouble defining exactly what a non-romantic and non-sexual queerplatonic relationship actually is, the bond between a dragon and their rider in fantasy novels is actually a pretty good example. And if you’ve read fantasy, you’ve probably read about how important a rider’s dragon is in that person’s life and vice versa. In a lot of cases, the rider’s dragon is even more important than the romantic interest, if there is one.

So look forward to that, I definitely am.

I’ve put a lot of projects on the back burner, including my genderqueer villain story. I’m still going to write that one, even though I missed the deadline for the Villain’s Inc anthology.

Anyway, that’s my current writing project. Hopefully there will be more to follow once I get this one underway.

So dragons. Yes.

Rainbow Awards Runner Up

I forgot to mention, because I happened to be in France while the Rainbow Awards were announced and was generally drunk on Normandy pear cider and Calvados: Rangers Over Regulus was fifth runner up for the Gay Futuristic/Sci-fi category!

As you can imagine, I was very pleased for myself when I discovered this, right before I was on a plane for 10 and a half hours on my return to Canada. I know, it’s been a month, but you must forgive me for forgetting. I had to go through customs twice on my way back: once in the States, and a second time in Canada. And then I had to pack up and move house once I got back. And then it was Christmas.

Now that it’s the New Year, I can remind everyone in case they forgot, like me.

The other runners up in the Sci-fi/Futuristic category were:

2. Light by Nathan Burgoine

3. Piper by Leona Carver

4. Strain by Amelia C. Gormley

And the winner was Rarely Pure & Never Simple by Angel Martinez.

Sky Knights cover release

Hello all, I hope you’re having a good 2015 so far!

Just giving everyone the chance to see the cover for Sky Knights, done by London Burden!

I love this cover a ridiculous amount. As you can see, the outline of the plane is meant to look like the plane my protagonists fly, a wooden biplane called the Po-2 Polikarpov.

Sky Knights is part of the Damsels in Distress anthology, and is currently up for preorder!

I’m also excited to see the stories by my fellow authors who will also be part of the anthology. I’m glad to see that so many people submitted a story to this anthology, because we really need more awesome lesbian and bisexual ladies. Usually, there’s one or two stories about queer woman in anthologies published by Less Than Three Press, but it’s great to see an anthology dedicated to showing how awesome our female characters can be.

Sky Knights is about two Soviet pilots during WW2 who are part of the infamous Nightwitches squadron, night bombers that flew perilous missions in tiny little wooden planes. This story is a historical fantasy, because I couldn’t resist with the magic. However, the part where women were allowed to be pilots in the Soviet army during WW2 is historically accurate. There really was a women’s bomber squadron that the Germans called the Nachthexen who risked their lives harassing the German front lines. They were also snipers, sappers, tank drivers, and battle medics.

With this story, I wanted to show that there were women in real history that did amazing things, including become part of one of the most feared bombing units of the war. Women are so often left out of history, their accomplishments glossed over to make it seem like women can’t do anything. This is doubly true of queer women.

Keep that in mind when you are reading, that all the women in this story were based on women that really did those death-defying things.

Sky Knights will be released March 25th, 2015.

Happy New Year everyone, happy writing and happy reading.

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alex powell

Quills&Ink Cafe

Month: January 2015