JL Merrow

We’re absolutely thrilled to announce that our guest speaker at the UK Meet 2012 will be none other than Jordan Castillo Price, award-winning author of the the Psycop books, the Channeling Morpheus series, Petit Morts and more fantastic m/m books than you can shake a very large stick at!

I read the first Psycop book, Among the Living, on the recommendation of a friend, back in the far-off days when I didn’t even know what m/m romance was and how to find it. It blew me away, leading eventually to my own attempts to write the genre – so, heh, you could say JCP’s got a lot to answer for! I’m absolutely over the moon she’s making the trip across the pond to visit us.

If you’d like to find out more about the meet, check out our website here. We hope to see you there!

I am beyond thrilled to find that Camwolf is one of the 7 nominees in the GLBT category of the DABWAHA tournament!  (And very impressed with the company it’s keeping there!)

Serendipitously (I’ve always wanted to use that word), this comes just in time for the lead up to its print debut on April 3rd – the paperback, should you wish for a copy, can be pre-ordered at a discounted price here.

… is the title of my feature story in The Big Thrill, the magazine of International Thriller Writers, available to read online now!  So if you’ve ever wondered why the werewolves I write about always seem to have some connection to Germany, go here.

The cautionary tale of Peter Stubbe, the werewolf of Bedburg (allegedly).

I’m a very happy author today, because the postman brought me a present – my author copies of Camwolf!  The paperback edition of Camwolf is due out on 3rd April 2012, and is available to pre-order now on Amazon.

Not only that, Camwolf has had a lovely review from Joyfully Jay:

I found this such an interesting and unusual werewolf story.  I loved the way the book explores the two different ways the men react to their wolf sides and how much that affects their relationship…If you are looking for more than the usual werewolf story, I would definitely recommend it. – JayHJay, Joyfully Jay.

That’ll teach me to go away for the weekend just when we went live on this:

UK GLBTQ Fiction Meet 2012 – Read it, Write it, Love it

September 14th – 16th 2012 will see the third annual UK Meet for readers/writers/reviewers/fans of GLBTQ fiction. There will be a full day of programmed events on Saturday 15th, plus optional social events on Friday evening and Sunday morning.

From its modest beginnings in 2010, when a group of the most respected British and European authors in m/m romance got together in a library in Ely, this convention has already doubled in size, developed panels and guest speakers, thrown out links to publishers, editors, writers and fans alike, and looks set to become a major player in the field of GLBTQ fiction in the UK.

In 2012 we aim to be bigger and better yet.

Set at the elegant Mercure Brighton Seafront hotel, this year’s convention will feature talks by top authors, panel discussions on hot topics in the field of GLBTQ fiction, such as BDSM, Shifters, Beta readers, Online Interaction, Adapting fanfic, US settings, Self publishing, 1-to-1s for budding authors and more, while a separate room is available for chilling out, socializing with your favourite authors/pitching to publishers and agents etc.

For full programme see http://ukglbtfictionmeet.co.uk/ukmeet2012details/

To book a place at the convention go here http://ukglbtfictionmeet.co.uk/booking2012/

Cost of attendance: £35 (rising to £40 if bookings are made after 30th June), to include all panels, buffet lunch, coffee, tea & snacks throughout the day, and USB stick filled with free fiction.

To book a room at the hotel for Friday and/or Saturday night tel (+44)844/8159061 or email :061rs@jupiterhotels.co.uk Special rate for delegates: £85 per night, booking code available on the UK meet website (or you are very welcome to visit just for the day or arrange alternative accommodation elsewhere)

Anyone attending, whether they have been published before or not, is invited to submit a story for this year’s anthology: “Lashings of Sauce.” Full details of how to format your story and where to send it are available herehttp://ukglbtfictionmeet.co.uk/anthologies/call-for-submissions/

To keep up to date with the latest news visit our blog http://ukglbtfictionmeet.co.uk/blog/

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It was so lovely to soak in the fun, love and laughter of like-minded people – 2011 delegate

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I am so excited about this year’s meet!  Brighton is a fantastic place to visit, the hotel has a great location – and with a day rate of just £35, this is an absolute bargain compared to other conferences.

This week, the BYWBBT visits Kate McMurray, where the title of the post is Authors by the Fireside, and Kate, Andrew Grey, Heidi Cullinan, Ellis Carrington and I are all talking about our hearths and homes.

The fireside of my youth – I can’t imagine why these ever went out of fashion! ;D

Be sure to leave a comment at each stop of the tour for up to sixteen chances at the grand prize: a $200 USD gift certificate to the e-retailer of your choice! Also keep an eye out for links to individual authors’ sites on their release dates for a chance to win some free books.

Good luck in the draws!

I’m over at Joyfully Jay today, with a guest post about my first trip to Berlin, the setting (fairly obviously, *g*) for Midnight in Berlin. Why not pop on over for a look at what it was like when the Wall was still standing?  

(The sign in the foreground, btw, reads, in German, Attention! You are leaving West Berlin.  Last time I saw it, someone had spray-painted on it the German for, How?)

Hurrah! Midnight in Berlin is now available to purchase!

Here’s the blurb:

The hookup from hell…or the ride of his life?

Leon’s drifter lifestyle gives him the freedom to attend as many music festivals as his heart desires. Even the ones that leave him covered in feathers. Wet feathers, thanks to the rain as he hitchhikes back to his hostel. When he’s offered a ride by a good-looking man in a Porsche, Leon thinks it’s his lucky night. Until he discovers his savior from the storm hides a dark secret: he’s a werewolf.
At first glance, Christoph thinks the shaggy stranger walking Berlin’s streets is a rogue werewolf. By the time he realizes his mistake, it’s too late for both of them. Forced to turn Leon into a monster to save his life, Christoph still has to suffer his pack leader’s brutal punishment for endangering them all.
Leon awakens, horrified by what he’s become—but it’s his lover’s fate that spurs him to action. Freeing Christoph is easy, but the aftermath complicates everything as they go on the run, desperate to uncover the secrets their pack leader is hiding. Secrets the pack will kill to protect…

Product Warnings

Take a trip to Europe. Soak up the local culture, meet a creature from your worst nightmares. Contains werewolves behaving badly, clothed and unclothed. Author is not responsible for unexpected, uncontrollable urges to consume massive amounts of, um, bacon. 

And the winner of the giveaway is: whitestar_alpha! Congratulations! 

If you drop me an email at jl(dot)merrow(at)gmail(dot)com, and let me know your preferred format, I’ll get that right off to you. Thanks to everyone who played!

There are TWO competitions to win a free copy of Midnight in Berlin closing today – here on my blog (closing at 11pm, GMT, Monday 20th), and at Stumbling Over Chaos, here (closes at 7pm, CST, which I think is around the same time, but don’t quote me!)  Make sure you leave a comment both places to be entered in the draws!

Fed up with winter and dreaming of getting away from it all? You’re not the only one! The latest Dreamspinner anthology is a collection of stories set around holidays (that’s vacations, to the US peeps among you, not the “holidays” involving the big guy in red *g*):

Blurb: A vacation is exactly what these men need to find love in their lives. It may be about looking for a little fun, gaining a fresh perspective after a breakup, or building up the nerve to take the plunge. Whether they travel by plane, train, or automobile, none of them want to go it alone. They’re hoping romance will be the ticket to finding paradise in another man’s arms.

Released today in ebook and paperback, Two Tickets to Paradise contains my story, All at Sea:

Josh feels all at sea on the Isle of Wight. He’d rather be living it up in Ibiza, dancing until all hours, and maybe meeting the man of his dreams.  What chance has he got of getting lucky with his newly-single mum and little sisters in tow?  Things seem to be looking up when a gorgeous boatman with a way with words invites Josh out.  But even love on an island isn’t always plain sailing.

About the story:

Writing this was quite a nostalgia-fest for me! I grew up on the Isle of Wight, and passed the boating lake on my way to school each day. Both my brother and I had summer jobs there—although while he got to work on his tan pulling in boats, I was cooped up inside the cafe, serving up cups of tea and waging war on the ants that tried to invade our cream doughnuts. The story is set in 1993—and heh, I’m not telling you how much later than my time there that was!

A tiny snippet:

The boats for hire, a mix of paddle boats and rowing boats, were all lined up along one side of the lake, next to a little hut where they took the money. And when I say they, I mean he. God, he was gorgeous. Tall—taller than me—and lean, not skinny, with short dark hair that fluffed up on top and rippled in the breeze that was blowing in off the sea.

He had a voice like honey on pancakes, which he was using to full effect to drum up trade. “Roll up, roll up! Get your top-of-the range self-powered floating conveyances here!”

Laurie giggled and tugged on my sleeve. “Josh, why’s he saying that?”

“He means we can hire a paddle boat here,” I said with only about one percent of my attention on my little sister and the rest firmly fixed on the vision standing by the boathouse. He turned and smiled as he saw me staring, and I felt like ice cream melting under the hot chocolate fudge sauce of his gaze.

“This way, please, ladies and gent! Now, if I can just remind you: swimming in the lake is strictly prohibited, as is attempting to drown younger—or older—siblings, no matter how much they may be asking for it.” He winked at me as he said that, and I almost fell in the water.

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