Category: Era

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Guest Post by Phetra Novak, Author of Finding Home and Haven’s Revenge (Caddo Norse Series)

havens revenge

Norse mythology, actually most kind of mythology, has been a subject that have been close to my heart for most of my life. I am by far the least religious person you can find but the myths and lore about the vikings and Norse Gods, bloody as it may be has always put a thrill in me. And in a way I guess it is just the fact that it is more lore and folktales than religion that suits me. Because lore and folktales are more commonly known as tales, unlike religion that is taken as a fact and truth even though there’s nothing that proves that it is anything else but 95% lore too.The idea of turning Norse mythology and Native American lore into one well-oiled series was never really the plan, Haven was at the start, a Native American were

The idea of turning Norse mythology and Native American lore into one well-oiled series was never really the plan, Haven was at the start, a Native American were hunter who was going to have no other passion than traveling the roads like a nomad. His only mission in life that of killing off the entire shifter race because of what one crazed shifter did to his family and tribe. He was never meant to have a lover, a group of men and women who he considered his family, no his story was at the early stages of my brain’s development of this story a very solitude and dark life.

It wasn’t until I started plotting out his story that the idea of Norse Mythology and the Fenrir Ulv, being the ultimate father of all shifters, started to creep into my mind. First, the Fenrir Ulv was going to be the Ultimate shifter, as he still is, the father of all creation when it came to were shifters. He was meant to have been Haven’s ultimate challenge, who Haven, in the end, was meant to die from trying to kill, and who know’s he might just still do that, but all in all no matter what happens  the path Haven went down was nothing like I first anticipated or planned.

Native American lore and history have is another subject that has always been something that has fascinated me. Native Americans being the only real natives of the continent of North America, it’s always surprised me how little we see of that history there. They were there, living the earth, making homes and a living long before Columbus discovered the Americas and were and are a huge part, the essential part of North American history and still “the white” man’s minute long presence is what dominates our history books. With Haven’s Revenge, I wanted to change that, I wanted to make Native American history and lore a main part of the story.

Those who have read my books, and I guess especially those that have read my books and knows me, know’s I favor the underdog, the oddball, the grumpy goodhearted bastards of society who everyone else has lost faith in, those are the men and women I prefer since following the stream of political correctness has never really been my cup of tea. I can honestly say I despise political correctness for the sake of it because way too many people hide behind it and are allowed to act like cowards because of it.

Planning Haven’s Revenge, at the beginning, was fairly easy because his cause his reason was just going to be that of revenging his past with his acts of devotion to killing of every shifter till all of them were dead. It wasn’t until I reacquainted myself with the Fenrir Ulv and Norse Mythology, and my love for it came back to live that I started playing with the idea of making it part of the heart of my story. I mean killing the Fenrir off when he was such a cool myth and when it would be so much more fun and interesting to have him stay alive and for once being one of the good guys!

It is funny when it comes to Norse Mythology and Vikings, most people get it wrong, Thor and Odin, and even Loki always somehow become heroes like Superman or Batman. Bad boys with good guys heart when in reality all of them were if you read the Edda or other sources of Norse Mythology information, they were all evil and selfish bastards. And as for the Viking, there was nothing gentle or loving about them, they were all brutes. Barbarians.

Fated fuure

Being pretty familiar with Norse mythology researching it I knew what I was looking for and really just needed to look up details such as how the Fenrir Ulv was captured by the Asa Gods, where exactly he was held and how they drove that sword through his giant jaws. The point was to keep as much of the original lore as possible, to keep the realness of what most people know or what is known as the “truth” so that you would get that familiar feeling as you read the story. Besides the most complicated story keeps to the facts, when you start swaying out too much and you need to explain in too much great detail that is when the story is lost. At least in my eyes it is.

So, what happened between Haven being a pissed of forever lost were hunter with nothing else on his mind than prowling the land of the United States killing shifters and ending up as ranch hand training horses, being the candy of a farm boy’s eye and becoming the key to that farm boy’s future as the King of Wolves?

It is fairly stupid to call me romantic, because in reality I am not, I am way too cynical to be called romantic but I guess there’s a part of me, even if that part is fairly small, that still likes the idea of love like no other kind of love. The kind of love that will make you break all the rules, even your own, the kind of love that will get you through that long and dark tunnel and out into the light, the kind of love that makes you a possessive son of a gun and makes you wait forever and a lifetime just to be with that person for no other reason than that you have no room for anyone else. I guess a small part of me that exists out there at least for some people.

Mind you now I say love, not being in love, because even if the idea of being in love and the idea of that one perfect mate/lover/partner/second half (call it what you want) is something a lot of people hope is true, love can be any type of love it doesn’t have to be boy meets girl or boy meets boy. It can be the love between a parent and child, grandson, and grandfather and so on and so forth, and I think that you see all those kinds of loves all through Haven’s Revenge, that love is what love is and come in all different shapes and colors and none is better than the other just different.

As soon as I started to toy with the idea of making Thor and foremost Odin into the bad guys of my story and the Fenrir Ulv (and his siblings the Midgard Snake and Sleipnir) together into the good guys everything just sorts of fell into place all on its own. Coleman and Vojin they were the first characters to take form in my head, Vojin immediately being the key to the Native American lore of things.

To me, Native American culture and lore is a lot about self-discovery, about finding you inner strength, personal spirituality, and sacrifice. That you are willing to give up a lot of your own things to bring pleasure, happiness and safety for your people/family/tribe and at times that ultimate sacrifice is death itself but it is not feared because you are always protected by the spirit you made part of you. In Haven’s Revenge all of the Caddo community are a proof of this Zacharias, Haven’s father, death, Vojin being the link between the Caddo community, the Fenrir Ulv, and the Shifter council with the original eleven (twenty) cubs that were the children of the Caddo man who was the first man to ever be possessed by the Fenrir spirit and who managed to not go crazy.

The Caddo Norse story is the lack of a better word, a complex story, and I think that show’s in the criticism the book get both from people who love it and hate it, because the most common criticism it, or I have gotten, from readers and reviewers is that there’s “things” that doesn’t make sense like who the hell is Viktor and Hawk, the pop up and disappears and we don’t really great a grip on them, Vojin is essential to the story but we don’t see him enough, and this was supposed to be Haven’s and Alex’s story but it is stolen away because of all those other characters or their story was rushed (which I personally don’t get because it was dragged out to the point of almost becoming too much) but all these criticisms and others have answers.

The M/M Romance community is very used to, or spoiled (winks) with HEA’s with stories that start and ends with boy meets boy and then they live happily ever after. They are used to series where the MC are the main focus and there’s a new couple in each book and the couples from the past book or books only, if at all, makes small guest appearances. Not in mine, they don’t.

I don’t, only, write traditional romance stories, I obviously don’t mind them, but all my stories (with one exception of Finding Home) the main plot of the story isn’t love and getting the two MC’s together as a couple, they are a sidekick to the bigger picture, the red thread, the moral of the story which as in the Caddo Norse Novels is the war between the Asa Gods and the Fenrir Ulv/ Paranormal and human world. It is the war between good and evil, look and you shall find a lot of my own personal views on things all the good and all the evil represents real situations or people. What is the moral of the story? Characters pop up in Haven’s Revenge and disappears for a reason, we are shifted back and forth in time to show the reader historic events that have a purpose for the future.

And as for Haven and Alexander, whatever possessed you to think that their story was over to begin with? (Grins) There are load of things still going on with those two and their fate, their story, together as well as apart has only just begun (and that goes for Vojin too.)

finding home

Luca is a first year med student at the University of Gothenburg. He is following in his father’s footsteps, something he’d been programmed to do all his life. He lives a sheltered and still life, with no real friends. Luca would love to change that but doesn’t know how, since he always feels so odd around other people, like he doesn’t quite fit in. There’s so much inside him that wants out, like wanting to become a veterinarian more than a doctor. And the fact that he likes boys and not girls. But he doesn’t tell anyone about that—not even himself.

In comes Kai, an American cowboy in Gothenburg. He’s doing his thesis overseas to broadens his horizons before he does what he has always wanted to do, which is to go back home and run the family ranch. He just happens to see Luca one day leaving class and can’t stop watching the shy guy as he waded his way through the crowd with quick, silent steps, and his head down to avoid eye contact with anyone. For weeks Kai watches him from a distance, trying to figure out how to approach him.
Had he known that spilled coffee and slippery, awkward book bags would have gotten him close to the guy, he might have physically bumped into him a long time ago.

Finding Home is a book with star-crossed lovers meeting and the evil mind of the wicked witch in the west threatening to crush young love’s every dream!

Amazon       ARe

 

About the Author

Phetra often refers to herself as the odd man out, the dorky book nerd who rather spend her time with a good book or making up fantastic stories with even more fantastic characters, than live in the real world dealing with real people. 

The real world is strange, in a very non humorous way, and people in it complicates it to the point of wearing you out. In the world of the written word, no matter if it is in someone else’s words or that of her own things might get busy, complicated, and sometime even plain painful, but somewhere along the line there is always a hero on the horizon. He might not be prime or proper, a church going pretty boy since the author prefer rebellious men and women who don’t follow the protocols of society.
 
One of her favorite saying are that only dead fish follow the stream and well she ain’t no dead fish. 

Phetra live together with her family, two children, a domestic partner and their two cats in Gothenburg, Sweden and when reading her books you will notice that she always finds a way of bringing her on culture into her books. 

The joy of writing and reading comes from her childhood and is something she has always loved, something she is passionate to share with others. Phetra loves hearing from her readers even with ideas of what they want to come next. 

If you are looking for her, the best place to start looking is at home in the quietest corner of the house, where she’ll be curled up with either her Kindle reading or with her laptop typing away.

You can also find Phetra at:

Amazon author page: Phetra H. Novak

Webpage: http://www.phetranovak.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PhetraNovak
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/phetra.hedlund
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14436714.Phetra_H_Novak

 

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Blueberry Boys by Vanessa North

bboysFrom Riptide:

Connor Graham is a city boy—a celebrated fashion photographer in New York. When his uncle’s death drags him back to the family blueberry farm, all he wants to do is sell it as quickly as he can. Until he meets his uncle’s tenant farmer.

Connor Graham is a city boy—a celebrated fashion photographer in New York. When his uncle’s death drags him back to the family blueberry farm, all he wants to do is sell it as quickly as he can. Until he meets his uncle’s tenant farmer.

Jed Jones, shy and stammering, devout and dedicated, has always yearned for land of his own and a man to share it with. Kept in the closet by his church, family, and disastrous first love, he longs to be accepted for who he is. But now, with his farm and his future in Connor’s careless hands, he stands to lose even the little he has.

Neither man expects the connection between them. Jed sees Connor—appreciates his art and passion like no one else in this godforsaken town ever has. Connor hears Jed—looks past his stutter to listen to the man inside. The time they share is idyllic, but with the farm sale pending, even their sanctuary is a source of tension. As work, family, and their town’s old-fashioned attitudes pull them apart, they must find a way to reconcile commitments to their careers and to each other.

Kimi’s thoughts:
Vanessa North takes a city boy from the country and returns him home to his roots in this sweet but slightly angsty romance. The pair are interesting characters who fit outside of standard tropes though, with Jed in particular really shining out as so real, you might swear you’ve met his real life counterpart somewhere.
I quite enjoyed the sensitive way the religious angle was used, with the condemnation driving confusion and yes, probably some fear, but the persons themselves were not demonised. They too were given a three-dimensional treatment. If you hated them, it was because of who they actually were, and when you liked them and wished for different, ditto. Growth happens for the main characters and some of the side cast too, which makes for a warm fuzzy feeling when it all comes together.
The setting of rural America, with its eyes firmly on the economics involved in leaving, running an agricultural business, and the very real skills needed to successfully run the farm were a nice change of pace as well. The locations used evoked real memories of childhood visits to different farms and of picking and eating fruit, which was no doubt the intention as our photographer lead is counting on this very thing to sell the photoshoot he wants to do. All told, it makes for a great anytime read, especially if you find yourself in need of a pick-me-up.

Rating: 4.5

Buy from Amazon Barnes and Noble

kimisig

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Planting His Dream Blog Tour with Excerpt and Guest Post by Andrew Grey

PlantingHisDream

Planting his Dream
Thanks you Kimi-chan for having me. It’s so great to be here to talk about Planting His Dream. In almost every story there is a message and this story is all about the dream. Javi is the child of migrant workers and he’s moved from place to place his entire life. He’s picked and brought in crops of every kind. He’s used to blending into the landscape, so when he makes a suggestion and Foster, the farm owner listens and takes his suggestion, he’s surprised. No one ever listens to him and his opinion is never requested until Foster.
Javi doesn’t have dreams. No one listens and they’re useless anyway because he sees his entire future in front of him and nothing changes. So when Foster asked and he answers that he doesn’t have a dream, somehow it becomes Foster’s mission to show him that there is more to the world and to life. I have never written a character without dreams before and it was an eye opening experience. I really hope you fall in love with Javi and Foster the way I did.

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: April 11 2016
Edition/Formats Available In: eBook & Print
Blurb/Synopsis:
Foster dreams of getting away, but after his father’s death, he has to take over the family dairy farm. It soon becomes clear his father hasn’t been doing the best job of running it, so not only does Foster need to take over the day-to-day operations, he also needs to find new ways of bringing in revenue.
Javi has no time to dream. He and his family are migrant workers, and daily survival is a struggle, so they travel to anywhere they can get work. When they arrive in their old van, Foster arranges for Javi to help him on the farm.
To Javi’s surprise, Foster listens to his ideas and actually puts them into action. Over days that turn into weeks, they grow to like and then care for each other, but they come from two very different worlds, and they both have responsibilities to their families that neither can walk away from. Is it possible for them to discover a dream they can share? Perhaps they can plant their own and nurture it together to see it grow, if their different backgrounds don’t separate them forever.

Excerpt:

Foster jumped, dropping the hose. He hadn’t expected anyone.
“Sorry,” Javi said as he stepped forward. He was soaked to the skin, and Foster guessed he’d walked over. “I need some work.” He shuffled his feet nervously. “Things have not gone well.”
Foster had guessed that. “Can you hose down the floor and milking stations?” Foster wondered how Javi kept from shivering, but he picked up the hose and started cleaning everything. Foster went to work on the milking machines, making sure they were spotless. “Mop the floor in the milk room too.” Foster figured he might as well get a leg up on his chores. He went to the loft and brought down some hay for the feeders along with the protein supplements. He added some silage, as well, to sweeten the mixture.
The rain had let up by the time he was done, and Foster pulled out his wallet and handed Javi some cash for the work he’d done. Javi shoved the bills into his pocket. Foster wanted to ask him what had happened and why they were so desperate, but the pride Foster saw in Javi’s eyes told him he could ask, but that answers wouldn’t be forthcoming.
“Do you need help tomorrow?” Javi asked.
Foster wasn’t going to be able to afford someone to help him all week, but he found himself nodding anyway. He knew his mother and grandmother would try to help them any way they could, so it was best to let Javi work and earn the money he needed to help his family. Foster knew that machismo, male pride, was huge in Latino culture. Getting Javi to take charity would be difficult. “If it’s nice, the garden will need to be tended and weeded.” After all the rain, what they’d planted would sprout overnight. “You can also help me shift the hay in the loft to help make room for the new cuttings.”
“I’ll get here early.”
“Do you want a ride back?” Foster asked. Javi shook his head. He left the barn, jogged out to the road, and then down toward the field. Foster watched him the entire time, enjoying the smooth way he moved. He had to force himself to turn away. He shouldn’t be having thoughts like this. He went back in the barn up to the loft and started the process of cleaning and shifting the hay. Moving the heavy bales was just the ticket to work away these thoughts about the gorgeous farm worker.
He retrieved the remaining wayward bales of hay from the edges and corners, placing them near the chute to the main floor, stacking them neatly and then going for more. Foster hated that he had these feelings. He’d heard since he was a toddler all about the evils of alcohol, smoking, and many more prohibitions from the front of the church. More than once he’d heard the prohibition about men lying with men and had sworn the minister had been looking right at him and could see into his soul. In the last year he’d been able to find a lot of chores that had to be done, so he hadn’t been going to church as often. In a roundabout way, he felt better not hearing that he was a godless sinner all the time.
“Foster,” his mother called up. “Your grandmother and I are going to town. Do you need anything?”
He checked his watch and realized he’d been working for hours. “Some snacks would be nice.” He climbed down. “When will you be back?”
“About an hour. We’ll make dinner then.” She left, and Foster went about the process of getting ready for milking, thinking that this was a much easier job with two people, but it was only him, so he might as well get to it. Besides, the work gave him something to think about other than the same set of eyes, light caramel-brown skin, and full lips that had stayed in his mind now for nearly a year. Part of him wished that Javi and his family hadn’t contacted his father about working. Then he wouldn’t be reminded of how he felt and could go on with his life. Not that he knew if Javi felt the same way.
He let in the first half the herd and started the milking process, noting the cows that were going to be getting ready to calve soon. He kept detailed records and made notes in his mind regarding when he’d need to separate them into the calving pens. The work never ended, and Foster got to it, finished the milking, cleaned up the barn, and went inside to have dinner. Afterward, he checked that everything was all set for the night before spending a quiet hour before going up to bed.
That night, as he lay in his bed, staring at the ceiling, tired and worn out, his mind would not let up. All he kept seeing was Javi, worn and hungry looking, at least to start. It didn’t take long before his mind put Javi, not smiling, his eyes filled with heat, standing near him, pulling off his shirt and then tugging at Foster’s. Javi pulled him close, their chests touching, breath heaving, lips finally exploring. The funny thing was that other than on the cheek, Foster had never kissed anyone, not the way that Javi kissed him in his fantasies, like he was reaching down deep to Foster’s heart and soul. As heated as he became, Foster shook his head and put a stop to his fantasy. This was not helping him. He needed to be strong.

 

Author Information

Andrew grew up in western Michigan with a father who loved to tell stories and a mother who loved to read them. Since then he has lived throughout the country and traveled throughout the world. He has a master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and works in information systems for a large corporation.
Andrew’s hobbies include collecting antiques, gardening, and leaving his dirty dishes anywhere but in the sink (particularly when writing) He considers himself blessed with an accepting family, fantastic friends, and the world’s most supportive and loving partner. Andrew currently lives in beautiful, historic Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
Author Links
Amazon Author Page
Barnes and Noble Page
Dreamspinner Press
Facebook
Facebook Group All the Way with Andrew Grey
Goodreads
Twitter
Website

For Other Works by Andrew Grey
(Please Be Sure To Stop by His Website to See All of His Works)

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Escapade Blog Tour with Guest Post by Dolce

DOLCE Escapade Cover

 
Twenty-nine-year-old Lucas Thompson is at the top of the corporate ladder. But when his lifelong friend and ex-boyfriend invites him to his last-minute destination wedding in the Bahamas, Lucas realizes his corporate success can’t hide his private loneliness. Nor will he be able to escape seeing his family at the wedding—and having to explain, yet again, why he’s rich, handsome… and still single.

Fate and a taxi ride change everything when Lucas meets the charismatic and clever Jack McQueen, who just so happens to be a male escort. Jack’s presence on Lucas’s arm at the wedding keeps questions at bay, but their pretend relationship turns into something more after ten days of sun, sand, and sex. And before the trip is up, both men will discover that what started as a simple escapade in paradise might just lead to their very own happily ever after.

BUY LINKS
Dreamspinner eBook: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=7617
Dreamspinner Paperback: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=7618

Amazon eBook: http://www.amazon.com/Escapade-Dolce-ebook/dp/B01DB1S0BK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1459204653&sr=8-1&keywords=dolce+escapade
Amazon Paperback: http://www.amazon.com/Escapade-Dolce/dp/1634770579/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1459204653&sr=8-2&keywords=dolce+escapade

Barnes & Noble (eBook and Paperback): http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/escapade-dolce/1123569975?ean=9781634770576

Kobo eBook: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/escapade-10
All Romance eBook: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-escapade-2001873-149.html

DOLCE Escapade blue trio art-2

AUTHOR BIO
Dolce is a thirty year old New Yorker who loves to write, cook, sing, and laugh. She got her start writing fan fiction and is excited, and a touch frightened, to make the jump to original fiction. She is a big fan of the band Muse, who inspired her to choose a single word for her pen name: DOLCE. Plus, Cher has the one name thing going for her, too. Everyone loves Cher.

SOCIAL MEDIA
Website: http://www.dolcewrites.com
Tumblr: http://haydolce.tumblr.com/
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/dolcewrites
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dolcewrites
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dolcewrites/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29457376-escapade
Redbubble: http://www.redbubble.com/people/dolcewrites

DOLCE Escapade Blue text art
TITLE: Let’s go on an Escapade!

Hello! My name is Dolce and I’m a fiction writer. My new contemporary romance novel, Escapade, will be released on Monday April 11, 2016 by Dreamspinner Press. I’m very excited to be a guest on Kimi-chan!

I wrote Escapade over the course of about five months. It began in a writing challenge where a friend prompted me to write a story about someone needing a date for their ex-boyfriend’s wedding. Escapade came at a time when I was about to make a jump from working two time consuming jobs to one that had more of a freelance vibe. Something in my gut told me I should move on to the freelance job to free up time for writing. Looking back, I’m so, so happy I did it.

I tend to write more at night, but due to my work schedule, I often had to find pockets of time during the day to sneak a thirty-minute writing break at Starbucks. I think my shoulder is permanently sore from carrying my laptop around. Café workers started to notice that I was always typing things, and I finally earned the honor of baristas remembering my exact order! For the record, I love coconut iced coffee and chocolate chip scones.

I have a background in theatre and music, which makes me moving into writing kind of a shock for family members and friends. They had no idea I was even interested in writing, even if Id been doing it for around nine years. My writing started very script-like, very barebones, but my style has grown a bit warmer through the years. That said, I still tend to prefer simple. I write in a way that mimics, in my mind, the eye of a camera or the view of an audience. We live in a world where most watch television and films regularly, and I definitely try to tell stories in a similar style.

Escapade was inspired by my own summer reading experiences. When I was younger, I would stock up on romance paperbacks from the library before I went on vacation. There were many different genres and scenarios, but the pairings were only men with women—no same sex couples. I wanted to write a romantic comedy that featured two men falling in love in an exotic, beautiful location with lots of adventure and fun. It might sound silly, but it’s always been a dream of mine to have my book published and available in an airport bookstore. Maybe someone who feels left out by the standard romance novel pairings on the shelf would pick up my book to read on vacation.

Research for Escapade was fun, as it involved beautiful locations and lots of decadence. My family is very much a one vacation per year family, and most of the time our vacation was in-state. It was delightful to have an unlimited budget for accommodations, meals, activities, and wardrobe. Some people who have read it have said they’d love to see it as a movie. If that ever happens, we are going to need quite the budget!

Escapade is light and something to read at the beach, but also tackles realistic issues people face. Loneliness, the prick of discomfort you feel when you’re single amongst couples—even if you don’t want a relationship, balancing your personal and professional life, and growing into adulthood with your family.

The main character, Lucas, deals with all of those things. He is wealthy and successful, but in the eyes of his family, he’s still just Lucas. The secondary main character, the charismatic Jack McQueen, deals with the same issues, though he comes from a completely different place compared to Lucas. My hope is that in reading Escapade, readers see both characters growing together to conquer loneliness with love, laughter, and kindness.

Music plays a huge role in Escapade. I love soundtracks and while I wrote Escapade, I listened almost exclusively to music from the eighties. Something about that era of music fit with Escapade. Fun, sexy, a bit silly—songs that when the DJ throws them on, you know all the words (even if you’re a bit tipsy) and want to dance. Here is a link to a playlist I made while writing, that includes lots of songs from my process:

So! What’s your favorite holiday you’ve ever been on? Where would you want to go? I’m in New York and it’s chilly, so I’m dying for a vacation someplace warm right now. Maybe…Hawaii? That sounds good to me!

Leave a comment about your dream vacation for a chance to win an Escapade eBook! I will randomly select the winner in three days.

Thank you for reading my guest post! I hope you enjoy Escapade.

Love,
Dolce

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Ongoing Transformation of Micah Johnson Tour with Guest Post by Sean Kennedy

WHAT’S SO BAD ABOUT HAPPY ENDINGS?
I’m officially an Old.

I used to fool myself, but as I turned 41 this year I realised I should be picking out caskets for the inevitable. But stay with me, because this is actually going somewhere.

When I was a gay teen it was in the early 90s and AIDS hysteria and homophobia were pretty rife (not that I’m saying it’s eradicated now, but as they sing in Hairspray, “We’ve come so far but we’ve got so far to go.”) and the internet wasn’t even in mainstream existence for one to find knowledge or history about The Gays. One had to do old fashioned things like go the library and try to find books. And Perth, Western Australia, was a little less cosmopolitan in its books choices for public libraries than its bigger sibling cities. So my choice was pretty limited.

And let me tell you, it was pretty bleak. Most of the fiction I found was about AIDS, and it always ended in tragedy. Even if the one of the characters survived to the end of the book, you know they probably didn’t last long after the final page. And YA wasn’t much better. Pan Horizons were eagerly devoured because there were some gay characters to be found within – but man, it was almost always the same fate. One had an older brother who had AIDS and died before teaching his younger straight brother Valuable Life Lessons. Another had a romance between two boys that went sour and then, BANG!, one of them died in a motorcycle accident. There was never a happy ending for a gay character. The closest I ever got was Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles, but even Louis seemed to want to be left by himself and Greta Garbo it out in a deserted mansion.

But kids today, WOW. There is a wealth of LGBTQ material out there for them to find, and the internet has made it even easier for those not out to their family. And believe me, I’m not being all get off my lawn about it. I’m so happy that they have it. And sure, there are still the tragic stories sprinkled out there, but there are many more with happy endings and assurances that being gay isn’t an automatic death sentence.

I will admit, however, to a little jealousy. I wish these books had been around when I was a teen. I might not have been so scared of being who I was. So go forth and read, guys! Happy endings are great.

 BLURB
There is no Plan B.

After being outed in an especially brutal way and briefly running away from home, Micah Johnson has sworn to get his life back on the straight and narrow.  Well, not so much straight, but you know what he means.

Unfortunately the path to redemption is not an easy one.  With fights at school and on the football field and an all-round snarky attitude as his number one defense mechanism, will Micah survive the school year and the training camps to achieve his dream of making the national draft and becoming a professional AFL player?

His mentor, Declan Tyler, believes in him, but Micah wishes he had the same confidence in himself.  Only time will tell if the ongoing reformation of Micah Johnson will be successful.

EXCERPT

MY NAME is Micah Johnson, and I guess you could say I’m a former arsehole.

If they had meetings for former arseholes, this is how I would introduce myself. I would have to stand in front of the group—I assume it would be a fair size, as there are many former arseholes, and even more who refuse to admit they are one—and freely admit my shame.

But I think I’ve overcome this shame now, or at least, I’m improving myself. I was once described as having “a chip on his shoulder the size of Uluru.” This cannot be understated. I was angry at the world, and truth be told, I sometimes still am. There is a lot to be angry about in the world. But there is also a lot to like.

You just have to find those things.

I felt I had a lot of reasons to be angry. The main one was that I was outed under what some might say were less than ideal circumstances, but the less said about that the better. I felt ashamed, and exposed, and rather than try to deal with that and move forward, I turned it inward. I thought it was better to act like a total shit and make people dislike me straightaway than have people come to dislike me of their own accord. Because I didn’t feel like I was likable. It was normal self-esteem issues, which I’m sure all of you sitting here understand. No teenager ever feels completely good about themselves.

It can be harder when you also happen to be gay. Peer pressure at high school is the worst, and you can find yourself doing or saying things to protect yourself rather than draw attention to yourself. The spotlight was already on me, so I was always on the attack.

I’m probably going off track here, and I know your teachers are probably shitting themselves at the amount of times I’ve sworn during this speech already, and I guess, like Britney, I just did it again. Oops. But I am here to use my powers for good instead of evil, and that’s why I’m doing this talk at your fine school today.

Maybe if I’d had a GSA at my school, like your principal is proposing, I would have found other ways to deal with it. Maybe not. But knowing it was there, that would have made a hell of a lot of difference.

I’m also a jock, as shocking as that may be to some of you who believe in the stereotypes associated with gay people. I’m sure you’ve heard of Declan Tyler, the ex-Bombers player. He runs a charity called GetOut, which has agreed to sponsor your GSA when it begins. GetOut have helped me a lot, especially when it comes to dealing with bullying in school.

Gay students, or even those who are suspected of being gay, are amongst the worst bullied in schools. GetOut wants to help those kids, gay or straight, and combat bullying both on the sports field and within the school environment.

I’m here because I know it works. If you had asked me six months ago, I would have said it didn’t. But that was because I wasn’t really giving it a proper go. Chip the size of Uluru, remember? The thing is, we all need help in our lives. And we have to know when to ask for it, instead of just thinking that we can deal with it by ourselves. Some issues are too big.

So if a GSA sounds like a thing that could help you, I encourage you to join it. If you are a member of the Friends of Dorothy gang like I am, GetOut also holds meetings and get-togethers where you’ll get to meet students from other schools across Melbourne. It may have started out to help gay kids who play sport, but it has become much more than that. And you’ll also get to meet Declan Tyler, and I know from experience that’s a pretty big drawcard.

I also know from experience that he really cares about the kids he mentors at GetOut. I would not be standing here talking to you today if he didn’t. But before I start singing “Kumbaya” and asking you all to hold hands, any questions?
Chapter 1

“I HAVE one” came a voice from the back of the auditorium.

Micah inwardly groaned and shielded his eyes from the light shining directly into them, so he could at least see her better.

Emma Goldsworthy, her long auburn hair tucked into a no-nonsense ponytail, stared at him without remorse. A veritable spider leading the fly into her web. Lucky she was actually his friend.

“Do you even go to this school?” Micah asked.

She waved that concern away. “As a former arsehole, what have you done to redeem yourself?”

At this line of questioning, the principal jumped up and pushed Micah aside from the lectern. “I think we’ve had enough of the foul language. From both the speaker and the questioners.”

“There’s only been one question,” Micah pointed out.

“Regardless,” said the harried-looking woman, who Micah had only been introduced to an hour before. “Maybe you can rephrase your question, Miss?”

“It’s Ms., actually,” Emma said with a wide smile that broached no prisoners.

The principal shook her head and allowed Micah to come back to the microphone.

“I said I was still trying to improve, not that I had magically turned into a better person overnight.”

“Oh, okay. So you think you are better than you were six months ago?”

By now the students were watching with more interest than they had when Micah was speaking before. Of course, they had perked up when Declan Tyler was mentioned, but they soon lost focus again. “I like to think I am,” Micah replied.

“And you think this has been due to GetOut?”

“Yes. I know it has.”

“And—”

“Maybe we should let another student ask a question?” the principal yelled out, her voice carrying amazingly far throughout the auditorium even without a microphone.

“I didn’t know there was a limit?” Emma asked before she was silenced by a young-looking year eight boy standing up in front of her.

“You have a question?” Micah asked. “Hopefully not about me being an arsehole?”

He heard a strangled protest from the principal.

The boy grinned without guile. “What’s Declan Tyler really like?”

About the Author

Sean Kennedy lives in Perth, Western Australia, but his heart still belongs to his hometown Melbourne—which is also the home of Simon Murray and Declan Tyler from his series Tigers and Devils. A disciple of cult leader David Lynch, Sean is breathlessly awaiting the revival of Twin Peaks in 2017.