random updates

Just a quick update that Slashallure.com is now up and fully functioning. I'm very proud but would like to find a way to draw in some more readers. I think I am going to do a raffle some time this month for a random yaoi/shounen-ai book. We shall see I supposed.

In other news I spent all of august doing camp nanowrimo. Man that was exhausting, especially since I started almost a week late and then travelled for a week of it to the Dominican with my sisters. I succeeded though.

Apparently the only way I can finish a national novel writing month successfully is if I miss two weeks. That's what happened last time too. :P

hm... makes me feel lazy the rest of the time. Oh well, I'll look at that for prep for November. Already counting down for the next writing month, hehe craziness...

Next on my list is to get back to writing. I badly need to catch up on the writing for some of the stories on my site. Only one of the novels is completed already and that one is Oaf Prince.

I love the boys from it like crazy but at the same time, it is not at all a serious read. The novel is light-hearted and was started because I wanted to write a comedy, or something at least a little bit "cracky". That is why the ogre hybrids were born. They are called Oves, or Oaf (singular) and Soluc is their leader although his brother is trying to overthrow him by binding him to the weak human prince and then killing said prince and therefore Soluc as well. Like I said, its mostly crack. Despite the silliness I hope that it at least still has some heart as well. Hopefully it appeals to, well, anyone out there.

Okay off to bed for me. Lots to do in the morning.

Slash Allure

So after all this time, I finally went ahead and completed my authors site www.slashallure.com!

I am so incredibly excited! There are currently four novel length stories on the website, three short stories, and one anthology style story. Add to that the art and the website alone and I have put sooooooo much work into this already.

Its not even that I want to be super successful and make tonnes of money from this little endeavour, I really just want it to be good. I want people to like the site and I want them to be engrossed in the fiction. Even just having an audience would make me happy. That's why half of the content on the site is free and the memberships are so incredibly cheap.

While doing the research for slashallure.com I came to realize that most other sites that host serial fiction sell their memberships for anywhere around $10.00 per month. Mine, by comparison, is incredibly cheap at only $2.00 per month. I wonder if this devalues the work I've put into the website or if it encourages memberships like I was hoping it would.

hmmmm... so much to think about. Now that the site has launched though, I guess I should focus on the writing... I hope some people join!

writing and my mom

So it seems like I'm finally getting back into the swing of writing. After everything that was happening over the last two years I know its going to be a while before I can continue on like I did before.

Now when I write it is an instant and constant reminder of my mother. She always supported everything that I did, even when I had nothing to show for it. She was always so proud.

 In a way that thought prompts me on. I promised her that I would make all of my dreams come true for her, and this was a part of it. Since I was eleven years old I wanted to be a writer. I wanted to make people as happy as books made me. I wanted to give people a way to escape their lives to a place more wondrous even if it was just for a couple of hours. It is the same reason that I got into Film and Television. I use to truly believe in it, I guess now, just because she is gone it doesn't mean that I should give up. I should use writing to do exactly what it should--to take me far away to a place where my mother is still with me.

 It finally feels like that is what is happening and I will always continue to write and persue my dreams because that is what she wanted me to do and inside I know that is what is right for me.

So I have a couple of things currently in the works, one being a young adult novel, one a fantasy novel and the other a paranormal romance novella.

 I always hate when people have a hundred things in the works and expect to get them all done and published like its nothing and yet here I am... I am really wanting to get some more of my work out there for the world to read but this seems to be the only way I can do it right now. I will say that my focus is definitely on the novella at the moment. The fantasy novel is definitely on hold considering how much trouble it was giving me and the young adult novel is more something that I turn to in order to break out of writers block moments when nothing else really helps.

 I am aiming the novella to be somewhere between 10k and 20k and it is about two of my favourite things; vampires and werewolves. If I could just figure out a way to get a zombie in there I would be all set.

 It is a romance, like most of what I write and so far the characters are exactly what I wanted, but I've barely started, so we'll see how they behave as I continue on. It's funny to think how mainstream the genre has really become, specifially werewolves and vampires. I guess we all have twilight to thank for that.

 When I first became obsessed with the creatures, werewolves in particular, there wasn't much of them around at all. I would be hard-pressed to find a werewolf romance 15 years ago and now they're on every publishing site I come across. I can't really complain though, I have so much more to read now! <3

Just one bite volume 6 review

To start with, I think I should give my review of Just One Bite (volume six) which had my short story in its line up.

 Overall it was a good read, really fun and exactly the type of thing that I am often in the mood for but rarely can find. The anthology is a collection of eight romance short stories all featuring gay romances entwined in some way with the supernatural. The obvious choices there are for werewolves and vampires(my own story no exception to that) and so there was plenty of both. In fact that would be my only complaint, that of all eight stories only Sitting a Feisty Stallion by ID Locke and Of Men and Mice by Mira Ismine were not about one or the other. Luckily the variety of the vampires and werewolves from one story to the next were different enough that it still wasn't much of an issue.

 The first story Taste a Werewolf by Megan Derr was a fun read that was great to start off with and really set the tone for most of the book. In it a vampire professor satisfies his cravings for a werewolf student by hiring werewolf prostitutes whenever he gets the cravings. When he calls for a playmate this night though, the very person he's been fantasizing about walks through the door. Really unique in my opinion, even if only for the relationship dynamic. Vampire professor, really, who thinks of stuff like that? Megan Derr apparently. 

The second story was my own, The Visitor by Rukaya Hamdi. I wont say much here, but I did notice that its the only werewolf in the whole bunch who turns on the full moon, completely out of his own control. I think the Hollywood style is a little out of fashion now. What can I say, I love werewolves of all types.

Third on the list was Bound For Death by Anitra Lynn McLeod featuring a beached Vampire tied up on the sand and waiting for death when a friend finds him. He knows escape is futile but that doesn't stop them from enjoying his last night. This one was in my opinion kinky and very sexy. Probably the hottest sex in the book. The now or never vibe mixed with being tied up and it was pretty much in the bag.

Bite the Dust by Sarah Madison was to me, the most unique for a romance. In it a vampire stalks the night, the decision made that he will kill tonight. He follows a variety of people before finally landing on the most interesting; two men one hunting the other. In a strange turn of events he end up saving one from the other. I believe this is the only story without a sex scene but for some reason it still felt like it was moving too fast at the end. The characters were very compelling but I think a longer version of this that was extended would be a bit more satisfying at the end.

Friends, Not Food by Julia Talbot takes it back into the realm of quirky supernatural with a human boy living in a house with all vampire and werewolf roommates. Apparently the MC is very attractive because he has been mercilessly hit on by every one of his roommates except one, the one that he wants of course. This one was definitely sweet. Yet another couple from the book that I would love to read more of.

Of Men and Mice by Mira Ismine was possibly my favourite story out of the anthology. When one character is a fox shifter and the Other an owl shifter there's little or nowhere to go wrong. This couple had great chemistry and the story was totally unique and sweet.

The seventh story, I Promise by Cardeno C. was more emotional than most of the others. In it, the MC had already met and separated from the love of his life, due to being turned into a vampire. A flashback shows his old love and explains his current misery but is happiness going to reappear in his afterlife? I Promise was very sweet, and gushy just as one would expect from this type of anthology.

Last but not least was the story Sitting a Feisty Stallion by ID Locke. This one featured a phooka and his consort, a horse trainer. An interesting duo with lots of interesting ways that their relationship could play out. I found it adorable that the phooka got jealous when his partner rode another horse, and in general they were a cute pair. I do wish that the phooka's heavy Gaelic accent wasn't written quite as strongly as it was though. It did interrupt with the reading flow a little bit, but even then it was hard not to get into the story.

As a whole, Just One Bite Volume Six was a very entertaining read. Some stories stood out more than others but because of the variety of the stories I think that there is bound to be at least a couple of gems in the collection for all readers. In fact it was good enough for me to download and begin to read the whole Just One Bite series. And hey, its a free read. Can't go wrong there.

You can download the book for free at http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-justonebitevolumesix-644156-145.html

OR

you can read The Visitor for free on my website www.slashallure.com! please check out my site! :D

a little update

So... I forgot that I had this blog for quite a while and I started a new one on webs.com. Switching it over here though. I like the layout and options for blogger a bit more. So the next couple of posts will be what I wrote on my other blog being transferred over here. Book and manga reviews will be continuing soon along with a lot more BL and m/m news! Thanks for following! :D

Body Language by Aki Morimoto

I'm going to start this review by saying that I never really intended to read any of the June Yaoi novels despite my obsession with boys love. From my limited experience (browsing through Japanese BL novels) the translation often leaves much to be desired and the dialog often sounds especially forced to western ears. While visiting LA for anime expo however, I found myself in front of a huge Yaoi sale and decided to give in and try reading three of these translated novels. One of the titles that I chose was Body Language written by Aki Morimoto.

If you were to judge Body Language based on its cover you would be entirely right. Body language is a light, sexy and sweet read that illustrates to its core that even if you think you know someone you may not know them quite as well as you think.

Kanae is known around school as the cool beauty, easy enough that he'll get into bed with anyone who asks, men included. Rather than being completely distraught by these rumors he tries to take advantage of them by suggesting that he and his best friend Yuichi sleep together. Of course Yuichi the school playboy has no idea that Kanae is in fact a virgin and goes for the suggestion a little too eagerly. From there their secret romance (read fuck buddy) relationship ensues. And boy does it ensue fast.
In fact the entire story moves fast. In a matter of pages they are beginning their heated first encounter and after that it only gets hotter… and hotter, and yes, even more frequent. You may think that I'm exaggerating about the amount of sex in this book but I'm not at all. For a book that is only two hundred and fifty pages there are more sex scenes than I thought were possible and despite the fact that it starts out rather intense—and a little ridiculous—it gets even more so. The locations and ways they do the deed however help to keep it interesting and even if it wasn't so varied, miss Morimoto really knows how to turn the heat up and make things uncomfortably sexy. Although one thing she definitely doesn't know is accuracy.

There are several serious issues that may be hard to look past when reading the sex scenes in this book (which comprise the majority of the novel)for example the lack of lubrication, which is pretty typical of women writing m/m sex scenes, heck I've done it myself for simplicity's sake. However there are other things, impossible things and some other very unlikely things that may make you blink in confusion. The most notable of which being that Kanae's rear end acts a lot like a vagina, if you know what I mean. Perhaps Aki Morimoto wrote that little aspect in to account for the lack of lubrication, but it's still pretty...odd.

If you're willing to over look that (it is a Yaoi novel after all) then there is only one other major issue that this book has. The formatting is incredibly disappointing. In many places there are completely unnecessary spaces giving the impression that there is a change of scene taking place when there is none. It can be a little bit distracting until you get use to it, but all in all it gives the book a rather unprofessional feel to it which is a real shame because the story itself is quite fun.

True this may not be an epic literary piece, but in my opinion we have enough of those. Sometimes its nice to read a book that distracts you and carries you away for a little bit of good natured fun and in my opinion Body Language does just that. Despite all of the little problems that the print and story may have, Miss Morimoto has a very good grasp on her characters. They feel very real, especially Yuichi who is such a boy that its amusing.

If you're looking for fun, hot, smut with two lovable boys then I greatly recommend that you read Body Language and give this story a shot. You may end up like I did, deprived of sleep and still staying awake on a red eye flight to eagerly find out how this sexy love story progresses.