An anthology of stories set in and around the writings of Jane Austen, featuring LGBTQIA characters.

Thirteen stories from eleven authors, exploring the world of Jane Austen and celebrating her influence on ours.

Being cousins-by-marriage doesn’t deter William Elliot from pursuing Richard Musgrove in Lyme; nor does it prevent Elinor Dashwood falling in love with Ada Ferrars. Surprises are in store for Emma Woodhouse while visiting Harriet Smith; for William Price mentoring a seaman on board the Thrush; and for Adam Otelian befriending his children’s governess, Miss Hay. Margaret Dashwood seeks an alternative to the happy marriages chosen by her sisters; and Susan Price ponders just such a possibility with Mrs Lynd. One Fitzwilliam Darcy is plagued by constant reports of convictions for ‘unnatural’ crimes; while another must work out how to secure the Pemberley inheritance for her family.

Meanwhile, a modern-day Darcy meets the enigmatic Lint on the edge of Pemberley Cliff; while another struggles to live up to wearing Colin Firth’s breeches on a celebrity dance show. Cooper is confronted by his lost love at a book club meeting in Melbourne while reading Persuasion; and Ashley finds more than he’d bargained for at the Jane Austen museum in Bath.

My story:  A Particular Friend

When Susan Price leaves Mansfield Park to accompany her aunt, Lady Bertram, to take the waters in Bath, she little expects to meet an old ‘friend’ of the family. Initially scandalised, Susan finds herself drawn to the former Mary Crawford, now a widow, Mrs Lynd.

But Lady Bertram will surely never countenance Susan’s intimacy with a woman whose brother caused her daughter’s disgrace – and Mrs Lynd’s true identity cannot be kept a secret forever.

Available in ebook and paperback:  Smashwords| Amazon | ARe

So this week’s snippet is from It’s All Geek to Me, which is set in a comic book store in London – our hero Jez has just ventured inside for the first time:

Rhys led me past rack after rack of books and comics. I’d never dreamed there were this many superheroes, villains, and just plain weirdos in the world. Well, in the world of fiction, anyway.

Speaking of racks, another life-size model, Arachno Girl, crouched on a plinth as if watching for shoplifters. Her lacy, weblike skirt barely covered her muscular yet shapely thighs. At least her breastplate-slash-bra-thingy was a bit more substantial—well, it’d have to be. No way would anything lacy keep those mammoth puppies in check. Even restrained, they threatened to take your eye out. I edged away nervously, little cogs chugging around in my brain. If comic-book women all had really big tits, did that mean the blokes all had really big . . . I glanced at Rhys, swallowed, and threatened the little cogs with a metaphorical spanner until they stopped trying to cause inappropriate hard-ons.

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Don’t forget to check out the rainbow snippets Facebook group for more little excerpts from a whole host of talented authors.

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Jez is on a mission of mercy: to replace a tragically deceased comic book for his injured best mate, Tel. Venturing into the temple of geekdom itself, the Hidden Asteroid bookstore in London, Jez is bowled over by the guy behind the counter.

Rhys is the poster boy for hot geeks: tall, gorgeous, and totally cool. Jez is desperate to impress Rhys, but lacking in confidence after a bad break-up, so he bluffs his way through the comic book jargon—then dashes back to the hospital to beg Tel to teach him how to speak Geek.

Tel’s happy to oblige, and Jez is over the moon when Rhys asks him out. He’s even more thrilled when they discover a shared love of rugby, something he won’t have to fake for Rhys. The question is, how long can Jez keep up the deception—and what will happen when Rhys realizes he’s going out with Fake Geek Guy.

Available in ebook:  Riptide | Amazon | ARe

Charley Descoteaux posted a picture of skulls for Day of the Dead over at the Rainbow Snippets Facebook group this week, which reminded me of this little snippet from Fall Hard, my romantic suspense novel set in Iceland. Our amnesiac hero, Paul is visiting an exhibition on Egil’s Saga, and has come across the exhibit of a Viking scorn-stick. It’s jogged a memory – but not necessarily a pleasant one!

I’d seen something like this before. But not here. And it had been different; the head had been a skull, its bones shining whitely in the grey light that came through our window…

Our window. There had been a horse’s skull in our flat. Mine and Sven’s.

I stumbled out of the exhibition, tearing off the headphones.

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Don’t forget to check out the rainbow snippets Facebook group for more little excerpts from a whole host of talented authors.

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Fall Hard

I’m delighted to say that Haunting Muses is now available in ebook and paperback, just in time to get you in the mood for Halloween:

In this collection of lesbian stories, ghosts, be they actual or the metaphorical ghosts of memories, aren’t necessarily evil and hauntings may or may not be bad. How do we move beyond the foul spirits or integrate the shining beings who haunt us in the cruelest or the best ways? And how do we or our characters reconcile these ghosts into transformation and healing within present reality?

Includes stories by Sacchi Green, Deborah Walker, Pascal Scott, Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam, Elaine Burnes, Doreen Perrine and my own story, Dance With Me.

I love a good anthology call, and this one really intrigued me with its wide interpretation of hauntings – and the chance to write a story about a very different kind of love from my usual. Here’s a little snippet from Dance With Me:

“Read to me,” Helen says, perched up on the kitchen counter, her stockinged legs swinging. “Read some more of that book about the girl who faked her own death to frame her husband. I like that one.”

“You would,” I say. “But I can’t. I’m cooking. See?” I hold up the knife I’ve been using to chop the courgette. It’s larger than the one I’d usually use for vegetables, but it’s beautifully curved and I like the way it feels in my hand. “Maybe after tea.”

“You’re soooo booooring,” she moans, slouching in a parody of teenage ennui. Then she smiles and sits up straight again. “If you don’t want to read, how about putting on some music? We could dance. You like dancing. I could teach you some more steps.”

I look at the knife, its surface too dull to show my reflection. It does feel good in my hand…

I put it down firmly. It’s only for a short while. “All right. But just a few dances.”

Today’s snippet comes from my story in A Certain Persuasion, the upcoming anthology from Manifold Press, which features modern LGBTQ+ fiction inspired by Jane Austen’s novels.

Here we see the former Mary Crawford from Mansfield Park, now a widow, proving she’s not lost her sense of fun (and also proving just how many more words you get for your six sentences in Regency style prose!)

Now available to pre-order:

I’m delighted to be part of this upcoming anthology from Manifold Press, which features thirteen stories from eleven authors, exploring the world of Jane Austen and celebrating her influence on ours.

Happy Banned Books Week everyone!

I’m delighted to be celebrating Freedom to Read over at The Novel Approach today – why not pop on over, read some Tales of the Unexpurgated and maybe let me know about your own favourite banned books?

All commenters over at The Novel Approach will be entered into a draw to win an ebook from my backlist. Good luck! 🙂

In celebration of Bisexual Visibility Week, here’s a snippet from Lovers Leap where, for a change, the bi guy really is confused. Only not about his sexuality. It’s about everyone else’s. 😉

In this snippet, Liz is explaining to Michael that her romance with a trans woman doesn’t mean she’s attracted to guys:

Liz got right up in Michael’s face, her eyes narrowed to little slits like a snake’s. “I’ve got no problem with dicks. Well, not actual dicks, anyway. It’s the man on the other end I’ve got a problem with.”

“Why?”

“Jesus, do I have to spell it out? Lesbian.”

“Yeah, but . . . Girls are great, yeah, don’t get me wrong. But blokes are too. And if it’s not the actual tackle you’re objecting to, what is it?” He whirled to face Rufus. “Come to that, what you got against tits?”

Rufus hesitated, put on the spot. “Um, they wobble?”

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Don’t forget to check out the rainbow snippets Facebook group for more little excerpts from a whole host of talented authors.

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Lovers Leap

Oops! I have a feeling I’ve missed a few weeks of posting snippets. I blame everything on UK Meet eating my brain, coupled with having to kit out the youngest Merrowlet for sixth form (and that was a drama in itself) and see the firstborn off back to Uni (sniffle).

So in keeping with the back-to-school theme (and because I’m currently writing Shamwell #4) here’s a snippet from my first Shamwell Tale, Caught!  featuring hapless teacher Robert:

All was peaceful for a moment as I carried on shepherding form 2E into St Saviour’s Church, tins and jars for Harvest Festival clutched in tiny hands. Thirty pairs of eyes (actually, twenty-nine and a half; Jodie was wearing a patch for her lazy eye) searched eagerly for sight of parents and grannies. I gazed out on the sea of female and/or wrinkly faces in the pews and wondered idly if there was any job in the world, anywhere, that was worse for meeting men than the average primary-school teaching post. Father confessor in a nunnery, maybe? Avon cosmetics rep? Or one of those poor sods who went round emptying the sanitary bins they put in ladies’ loos?

[As this is a gay romance, it’s probably not a spoiler to say he meets his man on the very next page! *g*]

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Don’t forget to check out the rainbow snippets Facebook group for more little excerpts from a whole host of talented authors.

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You can run from the past…but the past runs faster

Shamwell Tales, Book 1

Behind Robert’s cheerfully eccentric exterior lies a young heart battered and bruised by his past. He’s
taken a job teaching in a village primary school to make a fresh start, and love isn’t part of his plans. But he’s knocked for six—literally—by a chance encounter with the uncle of two of his pupils.

Sean works in pest control, rides a motorbike, and lives on a council estate. On the face of it, he shouldn’t have anything in common with Robert’s bow-tie, classic-car style and posh family background. Yet Robert is helpless to resist Sean’s roguish grin, and a rocky, excruciatingly embarrassing start doesn’t keep the sparks between them from flaring.

Despite Robert’s increasingly ludicrous attempts to keep his past where it belongs, his past hasn’t read the memo. And soon his secrets could be the very things that drive Sean away for good…

Warning: contains the alarming misadventures of a pest control technician, a stepsister with a truly unfortunate name, and a young man who may have more bow ties than sense.

Amazon | Samhain | ARe