So I’ve been tagged by the my long-time good friend Meredith Shayne to participate in the Meet the Character Blog Hop, where those of us who are so inclined talk a little bit about the characters from our latest--and upcoming--books. Meredith introduced us to Shane Cooper, from her recent release Cutting Out. You can read more about Shane in Meredith's post here.

Cutting Out is out now with Bottom Drawer Publications and you can get it here.



Blurb:

A twenty-year veteran of the shearing shed, Aussie Shane Cooper loves his job, and the home he’s made for himself in New Zealand. If he’s a little lonely, he’s got good mates to keep his spirits up. When a hot, cocky young shearer named Lachlan Moore catches his eye at a competition, he’s content to look but not touch, knowing the young man is out of his league.

Lachie wouldn’t mind a piece of Shane, but the gorgeous gun shearer from Australia is soon forgotten when the Christchurch earthquake hits, and tragedy strikes Lachie’s family. Lachie deals with it the best he can, cutting himself off from all he knows. A year later and he’s back in the shearing shed, out of practice and lacking confidence. That Shane’s there to watch him flounder doesn’t help his nerves.

As Lachlan struggles to re-acclimatise, Shane can’t resist giving him a hand to get back on his feet. As they move from friends to something more, Shane finds himself wanting to know everything he can about Lachie. But Lachie’s got secrets he desperately wants to keep, and when things come to a head, those secrets might just mean the end of them before they’ve truly begun.


*~*~*~*


And onward we go. Introducing Gray, one of the two main characters in my current release, Mythica.



What is the name of your character?

Gray. He has no surname or middle name. It's just Gray.

Is he a fictional or a historic person?

Oh, definitely fictional!

When and where is the story set?

Present day, and in the South Australian seaside towns of Tiddy Widdy Beach and Ardrossan. The Innes National Park at the bottom of the Yorke Peninsula gets a mention too.

What should we know about him?

Gray is an alien, from a race called the Sy'lph. He is one of only two hundred who escaped their home planet in a deep space vessel when invaders destroyed the place and every life on it. With the last survivors of his race, Gray travelled through the galaxy, until the ship reached Earth. They asked for and recieved asylum as refugees--after a long period of discussion and voting with the United Nations--and settled around the world. Gray used to live and work in London, but decided he wanted to see more of Earth, specifically those places that are more remote and less urban. He wanted to visit Australia, so he asked for a work placement there. He was given the job of a senior community officer with Bridging Lives, the government office that works to help the poor, the sick, students, imigrants and mythica.

Gray, and his fellow sy'lph, do not understand hate. He has no concept of it, and has little comprehension of why a person would hate something or someone. He is a little naive in that regard, but he is generous and compassionate to a fault, has a wry sense of humour and is intelligent and interested to learn all that he can about his new home. As sy'lph are, in their natural state, creatures made of liquid metal, their scientists created a synthetic shell in humanoid form for the sy'lph to wear over their true shapes when on Earth. This is for two reasons, the first being that it's less alien in appearance and the second and more important one is that the light spectrum of the natural state of the sy'lph is such that it blinds anyone and anything that looks at them.

Gray is also extremely passionate and devoted to those he loves; he cares for the friends and family of his lover, Caiden, and adores Caiden himself unconditionally, even if Caiden, who is a mythica, doesn't think too highly of himself at times. In his human synthetic form, Gray is just over six foot tall, slender with a muscular frame, pale-skinned with blue-green eyes and mussed blond hair. He is often smiling, and enjoys life.

What is the main conflict? What messes up his life?

When Caiden is kidnapped by Free Earth, a terrorist group dedicated to eradicating all mythica life, Gray grows very angry and with a friend and colleague, recruits an Aboriginal tracker to help find Caiden. He is filled with fear that something will happen to Caiden, as they haven't known each other long and he's fallen in love with him.

What is the personal goal of the character?

Being able to live free, happy and peacefully, with his lover, Caiden Jones.

Is there a working title for this novel, and can we read more about it?

It's out! Mythica is available now at Bottom Drawer Publications.


*~*~*~*~*


Now to introduce you to the two authors who I’m handing the blog hop baton to. Both of these lovely ladies will be posting on November 10th, so watch out for their posts.

First up: My good and dear friend and co-author, Cate Ashwood. Cate's release is forthcoming in 2015, so here's a little bit about it. (I've beta'd this one, and I have to say, this is a terrific book.) It's called "Thirty Things" and will be out with Dreamspinner Press.



Blurb:

Finn and Nate have been best friends almost their whole lives, but Finn has something he's never told Nate—despite the fact that Nate isn't gay, Finn has been in love with him since he was eight years old. Finn has kept his feelings a secret for twenty-one years, terrified of what would happen if Nate ever found out.

One month before Finn's thirtieth birthday, Nate gives him his gift; a road trip across America to check off a list of thirty things to do before Finn turns thirty. Starting in Crawfordsville, Indiana, they tour the country, experiencing new things and meeting new people. Along the way, Nate discovers Finn's feelings for him, and Finn makes some discoveries of his own.

Learn more: http://www.cateashwood.com/coming-soon.html
Visit Cate: http://www.cateashwood.com/


Second up is L. V. Lloyd, fellow Adelaidean who's an author after my own heart, loving science fiction! L. V.'s release is Lunar Affair and it's available here.



Blurb: Lieutenant Jack Alexander has wasted years, waiting for his best friend, Marc Duran, to return his affections. Perhaps it is time to finally move on and find someone new. However, when Major Ethan Pattisson is sent to the planet Mayia to investigate the theft of hundreds of illegal weapons, Marc comes under suspicion, and Jack can’t help stepping in to save him. When Jack finds himself caught in the middle between Ethan and Marc, he discovers that unrequited love might soon be the least of his problems. Fourth book in the Aurigan Space Saga series, although it can be read as a stand alone story.

Learn more: http://www.amazon.com/Lunar-Affair-Aurigan-Space-Volume/dp/1502451247
Visit L. V.: http://lvlloyd.com/


Remember, these guys will be posting on the 10th, so check 'em out when the date rolls around!

Mythica is out! Click the link and grab a copy of my latest release, from Bottom Drawer Publications.


Blurb:

Caiden Jones is part-selkie and lives an idyllic life by the sea in South Australia. He’s had his fair share of disappointments, like being kept out of the Navy due to his mythica status, but overall he’s got a pretty good life. Until he’s in the wrong place at the right time.

Cai steps in to subdue an out-of-control minotaur and in the process suffers a serious injury to his ribs. As Cai struggles to breathe, a gorgeous suit-clad sy’lph with mesmerising blue eyes races to his rescue. When it’s learned that the minotaur was poisoned, the sy’lph, Gray, makes it his personal mission to keep Cai and his family safe.

Cai has always harboured some resentment towards the sy’lph because of their easy acceptance into the community, so the attraction he feels for Gray takes him by surprise. But how can they find out what this might mean when the lives of Cai and his family are endangered by someone closer than they realise?

It's that time--cover reveal time! I've got my cover for Mythica, out with Bottom Drawer Publications on the 20th September. There's a give away right now where you can enter a competition to win a copy of the book. And how can you do that? Simple! Click here and you'll see the competition.

And here's the cover:




Blurb: Caiden Jones is part-selkie and lives an idyllic life by the sea in South Australia. He’s had his fair share of disappointments, like being kept out of the Navy due to his mythica status, but overall he’s got a pretty good life. Until he’s in the wrong place at the right time.

Cai steps in to subdue an out-of-control minotaur and in the process suffers a serious injury to his ribs. As Cai struggles to breathe, a gorgeous suit-clad sy’lph with mesmerising blue eyes races to his rescue. When it’s learned that the minotaur was poisoned, the sy’lph, Gray, makes it his personal mission to keep Cai and his family safe.

Cai has always harboured some resentment towards the sy’lph because of their easy acceptance into the community, so the attraction he feels for Gray takes him by surprise. But how can they find out what this might mean when the lives of Cai and his family are endangered by someone closer than they realise?

Other info: Pre-order/buy link and an excerpt are available here.

It's nearly the end of May, and it's been quite a year. To be honest, I'll be quite pleased to see the back of 2014. For the most part, it's been, so far, an awful, horrible, no good year. There have been some highs, but there have been a lot of lows, and so I really will be glad to see the back of it come the 1st Jan, 2015. All my fingers and toes are crossed that 2015 will be much better.

One of the better things was that I got a new phone, and thus, I'm now on Instagram. If you're there too and want to follow me--I'll follow you back--mine is this way.

Another of the better things was/is the release of the second trilogy of the Archangel Chronicles, with book six out next month. In fact, it's out on the 9th, and you can preorder it now. I think Anne Cain's excelled herself with this cover. I just love it. No word on the release date for Mythica as yet, so I have nothing to report on that front, sadly. I am, however, nearly finished with writing up the synopsis' for the third trilogy of Archangels books; that will be the last for the moment, but probably not forever. Plot bunnies do bounce up in my brainmeats, after all!

I can't deny that the stress of this year, particularly the last few months has worn me down. I'm very tired. I've felt a bit flat creatively, too, but there's hope that as things pick up, which I have to believe they will, so will the creativity. I'm enjoying my collaboration with my dear friend/colleague/author/generally awesome person Cate Ashwood, and I hope readers will enjoy it too.

And that's about it, really. At least, for the moment. Hope you're all doing fantastically. :)



Link of the Now: Under the Cedar Tree, handmade organic candles. Gorgeous items, lovely scents, and she's local, too!

Good news and frustrating news (for me, at least!) is that the first three books of The Archangel Chronicles have gone into second edition. They've all been edited--and I'm working on book three, No Shadows Fall as we speak--and re-released. What does this mean for those who have read the first editions? Well, there's some new scenes and conversations and other scenes have been tightened up. The third book is going to have the most changes done to it, I think, although I'll be able to say for sure on that when I've finished the edits. :) In any case, it's very exciting for me and very gratifying to fix up those things that have niggled at me since original publication.

I've also started working on edits for book four, The Wind-Up Forest, which will be out in early 2014. This is the first book of the second trilogy of The Archangel Chronicles, and I'm very excited about it. The universe of the Archangels is rocked by two things--the theft of the Holy Grail and the fact that the Holy Grail (in the book's universe) actually exists. Even Raziel, Doctor Science, Archangel of Secrets and Mysteries, who thinks he knows (nearly) everything, was surprised that the Holy Grail wasn't a myth!

As with all things in life, there have been dramas, and in my case, those dramas have been related to the pressures and stresses of moving house. I've moved from one side of town to the other and while the house I'm in now is lovely and has a great back garden, there's a few issues that need to be dealt with by landlords, so those are things that we're thinking of quite a bit. Having said that, the neighbors are lovely, the nearby facilities are fantastic, and there's a lot of community awareness and activities that I find really interesting and I'm keen to look into that further, probably in the new year. Which is when I can finally get back into my non-writing love: weaving. I'm very excited about that too.

My contemporary paranormal, Mythica is out with Bottom Drawer Press, an Australian publisher, in 2014, and that's something else to look forward to. All new characters and M/M romance, set in country South Australia, in the towns of Ardrossan and Tiddy Widdy Beach, if you're keen to Google those and see what the area looks like. It's very pretty, right by the beach.

Unfortunately, with the moving has come internet issues, which are all relating to technical situations with the lines and the copper wiring of those lines. It's taking some time to get a connection set up as a technical dude is coming to visit--hopefully soon--and install an ethernet line and a few other things. So I'm limping along on air-internet, aka the dongle of doom, and trying not to use all my allowance up before I have to top it up is very, very hard.

Anyway, it's nearly time for the festive season to be upon us, so I wish you all the best for the season and for the new year and hope that 2014 is wonderful, safe and brings you nothing but joy and good things.

Love you all,

L. J.