Archive for March, 2010
My first review!
Kathy K said some wonderful things about Only Yours over at her blog.
I vaguely remember promising a moratorium on the word “first” but dude! My first review *sniffle*
What a way to start my morning. I’ve been grinning ever since. I should tell you that my writing vs reading is about a 1:100 ratio. I know! Bad J.R. In my defense, I’ve been reading forever; writing is still new to me and authors keep releasing books that I want to read. Dammit. But I digress. The point is that when I get positive reader feedback about Dre and Nate, my initial reaction is shock. Then, OMG! Then, Really? Then, OMG. Usually, I’m the one squeeing, emailing authors with “when’s the next book?!” demands, and the like. To be on the receiving end of even a fraction of that is surreal.
Thanks to all the readers who took the time to tell me what they thought of Only Yours or even to wish me congratulations on having a story out. You rock!
Talking about book budgets over at International Heat
Yeah, I don’t have personal experience with them per se but that didn’t stop me from yapping. lol Come see International Heat
Global Warming blog tour-Winners!
Prize one winner: Anna H
Waiting for Wednesday ebook by Mari Carr
Autographed print copy of Dream Machine by Jayne Rylon
Only Yours ebook by J.R. Patrick
Choice of backlist ebook by Rhian Cahill or ARC of Coyote Home
Prize two winner: Andrea B
Choice of ebook backlist by Jambrea Jo Jones
Death, The Vamp and his Brother tote bag, plus winner’s choice of Lexxie Couper ebook.
Choice of backlist title by Dawn Montgomery
Autographed copy of backlist print title by Nicole Austin
Prize three winner: Heather P
Bath and Body gift bag courtesy of T
Choice of backlist title and a package of TimTams from Jess Dee
Rodeo Heat by Desiree Holt
Choice of backlist ebook from ZA Maxfield
Prize four winner: Fran L
Choice of backlist title from Amanda Young
$10 gift card to Amazon courtesy of Valerie Tibbs
Choice of backlist ebook from Vivian Arend
Choice of backlist ebook from Carol Lynne
Autographed print copy of Texas Surrender by Claire Thompson
Congratulations to all the winners! You will be contacted by each author about your prize.
International Heat Global Warming Blog Tour
Only Yours by J.R. Patrick
When Dre asks his boyfriend Nate to move in, Nate leaves in the night without a word. Dre thinks he pushed too hard too fast, but the truth is a little more complicated. Nate is afraid Dre would dump him if Dre knew about his job in adult entertainment. Six months later, Dre is still beating himself up over scaring Nate away when they meet again… at a club where Nate works.
And for your red-hot excerpt…
Dre turned on his heel, already halfway out the door.
Christ, karma was bitch. “Don’t leave,” Nate pleaded.
“What do you want, Nate?” Dre asked, his head down.
Nate walked up behind the other man, eyeing the tender skin at his nape. How he longed to touch Dre, and before he knew it the truth slipped out. “You.”
Dre slammed the door shut and whirled around, anger blazing in his blue eyes. “You had me! You didn’t wan—”
Nate grabbed Dre and kissed him. Dre was slow to open his lips under his, but he let Nate in. Thank God. Fuck, he missed this. Nate cupped the back of his head; he couldn’t get close enough. Dre tasted like heaven, but Nate needed more. He released Dre’s mouth to suckle the side of his neck. Nothing got Dre hotter faster. Maybe if he reminded Dre how great things had been between them, he would be willing to listen, maybe give him a second chance.
Dre writhed. “Ah. Feels… so… good. Damn you.”
Nate continued his sensual assault, watching as the fight drained from Dre. He unbuttoned Dre’s dress shirt and removed it. His slacks were next. They pooled around Dre’s feet to reveal that gorgeous cock trapped by white boxer briefs. Nate sank to his knees, his mouth watering with anticipation. He looked into Dre’s eyes as he slowly lowered the underwear. When he only saw passion reflected in the man’s gaze, he looked back to Dre’s cock. Pre-come flowed, compelling him to taste. He lapped up the liquid. Dre moaned in encouragement, and Nate sucked him down to the root. Then he swallowed around the head.
“Oh fuck, Nate.”
Nate massaged Dre’s balls with one hand, stroking himself with the other. Dre’s responses always made him hot.
Dre panted. “I’m close.”
Nate held steady as Dre fucked into his mouth. No way was he missing a drop of come. Dre erupted and Nate swallowed convulsively. Fucking delicious. That was all it took. He came all over his hand.
Still in his mouth, Dre’s cock started to harden again as Nate laved it clean. Nate looked up. “Fuck me?”
Click the International Heat button at the top of this post to go back to the beginning and see the rules and the prizes. If you already know what the swag is, leave a comment on this post and EACH of the others in the list below to be eligible for a prize.
Works in Progress
I’m working on three stories. They have titles but in my head, I always refer to them by the names of the main characters—I still think of Only Yours as Dre and Nate. 
So, there’s Lucas and Zachary, Rick and Malachi, and Joshua and Roman.
Joshua and Roman’s story is one I’m co-writing with Jambrea Jo Jones. Josh and Rome are an established couple about to embark on the next stage of their relationship—marriage. Or are they? 
We still have quite a ways to go but I’m thrilled with what we have so far.
Rick and Malachi story brings back Rick from Only Yours. S.J. plays a role as well and Dre and Nate make cameos. That’s about all I can say right now.
Lucas and Zachary’s story is set on a university campus (my favorite places on Earth to work). Luc is one really smart dude. But they’re things he misses. Thank goodness Zach is more than happy to point them out. This will be a short one and might be finished before Rick but I’ll see how it goes.
And that’s all folks.
Patric Michael—the nicest man I never met
Anyone who’s seen Patric on the various yahoo loops will agree that if they had to describe him in one word, it would be easy.
Hilarious!
But Patric isn’t just sparkling wit and a pretty face. Nope, he’s so much more. When a newbie author emailed him with question after question, he never hesitated to answer. And with email subject lines like “Me. Again.”, it’s a wonder he didn’t lose patience and direct me to his spam folder. At least I don’t think he did… Hmmm. Nah, I think I’m safe. 
Don’t believe me? Try emailing Patric at patr—I jest! But you can find Patric on the web here and here
Other than making myself a pest on email, I’ve had the pleasure of reading Patric’s work. Most recently, The Santa Mug, a truly exquisite story about lost love and new love found. Below is the description from Dreamspinner…
When Marlon died on Christmas Eve, Darren withdrew from the holidays, and life in general, until Max, the man who introduced him to Marlon, invites Darren to his parents’ house for Thanksgiving. Darren agrees and is immediately overwhelmed by Max’s large, boisterous family. He tries to retreat behind familiar barriers, but Max has other ideas for the reclusive young man. It’s not until Max delivers Marlon’s last Christmas gift, four years late, that Darren truly understands that love is the greatest gift of all.
The road to publication has been exciting (yes, that word again) and all the more so thanks to the awesome online community of authors and readers. With Patric’s advice of “Don’t be an asshole author!”, I hope to be part of the club for a long time to come.
“Congratulations, Ms. Patrick! It’s a Nap-Size Dream.”
J.R. wiped the happy tears from her eyes. “Is he healthy? Does he have all the pages and everything?
“Yes, J.R.” Dreamspinner smiled indulgently. “And he’s in .lit, .prc and .pdf. Here you go.”
She sniffled as she took the files. “Thanks. Uh…could you excuse me a sec. I have to—”
“I know. Go ahead.”
“SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!”
So as you might be able to tell from the above, it’s release day for Only Yours!!
I’ve been using the word “excited” so much lately but I can’t help myself. I am excited and have been for months. To give you a little background on my road to publication, it started with a dream. Cliché, I know, but the truth.
I had a dream about these two guys and when I woke up, I IMed Jambrea about my dream and told her it sounded like a story. And she said, “So, write it!” I laughed her off, of course but a few weeks later, I opened MS Word and jokingly named the file “Why Not,” never once imagining I would get very far.
With the encouragement and constant support of Jambrea Jo Jones and Mari Carr, I finished my story. Then it went out to some of the other ladies at International Heat at the time: Jayne Rylon, Jess Dee, Rhian Cahill, Vivian Arend, Theresa Pillow and Valerie Tibbs.
Jayne critiqued it within an inch of its life.
Jess managed to pull water from stone. And that’s all I’m saying about that. Hehe
The other ladies gave me invaluable feedback. It really did take a village. IH ladies so rock!
I subbed to a few pubs and got rejected but I didn’t give up.
I read. A lot! And I go through phases where I read a lot of contemporary or paranormal or menage, etc. I was going through a phase (and still am) where all I was reading was m/m. I was buying from small presses that pubbed all types of romance so I went through their m/m selection pretty quickly. So, I hit ARe and started searching for books by genre so I would have all the m/m at my fingertips. I found myself buying (and loving) a lot of stories from Dreamspinner and I thought I better check out their submission guidelines to see if my story was long enough. It was! The rest is squeeing history—and present. hehe
And that’s my story. But Dre and Nate’s story, which I hope is much more interesting, is available here
*SQUEEEEEEEEE*
Grand Prize winner!
Thanks, everyone, for hanging with me in my Countdown to Only Yours contest week!
The daily entries were combined for the grand prize draw and the winner is Leni!
Congratulations!
But what did Leni win?
A $25 All Romance ebook gift certificate,
a J.R. Patrick mug from the International Heat store,
and a copy of Only Yours in .lit, .prc or .pdf format, winner’s choice.
Email me at jr (dot) patrick (at) rocketmail (dot) com and let me know the email addy you use for your ARe account, your snail mail addy, and what format you would like Only Yours in.
Contest #7: Winner!
The winner of the Keeping Promise Rock by Amy Lane ebook is Joder!
Congratulations!
Email me at jr (dot) patrick (at) rocketmail (dot) com and let me know two things: what format you would like and the email addy you use for your ARe account. It’s not a problem if you don’t use ARe.
Contest #7: Keeping Promise Rock by Amy Lane
From Dreamspinner Press…
Carrick Francis has spent most of his life jumping into trouble with both feet. The only thing saving him from prison or worse is his absolute devotion to Deacon Winters. Deacon was Crick’s sanity and salvation during a miserable, abusive childhood, and Crick would do anything to stay with him forever. So when Deacon’s father dies, Crick puts his college plans on hold to help Deacon as Deacon has helped him.
Deacon’s greatest wish is to see Crick escape his memories and the town they grew up in so Crick can enjoy a shining future. But after two years of growing feelings and temptation, the painfully shy Deacon finally succumbs to Crick’s determined advances and admits he sees himself as part of Crick’s life.
It nearly destroys Deacon when he discovers Crick has been waiting for him to push him away, just like Crick’s family did in the past. When Crick’s knack for volatile decisions lands him far away from home, Deacon is left, shell-shocked and alone, struggling to reforge his heart in a world where love with Crick is a promise, but by no means a certainty.
This one broke my heart, over and over. And then broke it again. But I’ve never been so happy to have my heart broken.
What are your favorite tearjerker stories?
