#mm romance

Currently enjoying: Moonstruck by Aleksandr Voinov. It’s honestly the first romance book I read where being an author doesn’t feel like a prob. I appreciate that and the way fanfic is handled here. And I like the characters. It was a delightful read.

Currently enjoying: The catch trap by Marion Zimmer Bradley. Not gonna lie I picked it up because it’s about aerialists. And has a gay romance subplot. But I love all the (family) history in this book. It’s endlessly fascinating. A really good read.

In interviews, Anthony had referred a few times to how the whole series had taken “unexpected directions,” but surely nobody could just wing their way through a complex seven-plus-book series? Could they?

 Moonstruck by A.Voinov, L.A. Witt

Me: Well…

*Free Fiction*

Better in Pictures (F/M spicy romance)

Hive (M/M romance)

*Books*

Gata Vardia Series (M/M shifter romance): 

Surrealizing Home

Philophobia

I’ll update the list with every new piece of fiction I publish. 

Currently enjoying:Drawing Bloodby Poppy Z. Brite. I’ve reread this one a lot, because I like coming back to Missing Mile. I adore Trevor and Zach and love a good haunted house story, and this one is excellent.

First review forPhilophobia was online on amazon today. It’s lovely. There is hoping it won’t be the last one. In any case I’m gonna ride this happiness high for the whole weekend :) because like any writer I love hearing someone liked my story.

First review forPhilophobia was online on amazon today. It’s lovely. There is hoping it won’t be the last one. In any case I’m gonna ride this happiness high for the whole weekend :) because like any writer I love hearing someone liked my story.

Megan Derr is the co-owner of Less Than Three Press, an indie LGBTQ publishing house–and she’s also their most prolific author. Before LT3’s founding, Megan posted her slash fiction on LiveJournal and Fictionpress, epicenters of older wank that unfortunately went unrecorded.

Over the years, Megan has been embroiled in several dramas, none of which impeded LT3’s growth. When juxtaposed with similar controversies, this lack of fallout becomes curious.

Was she just Not That Bad, comparatively? Did people not care? Or had Megan’s navigation of the drama de-escalate any chance at a larger blow up? We investigate.

Why does Megan matter?

As visible co-owner of a successful and award-winning LGBTQ press, Megan is officially a gatekeeper. Her personal opinions matter and her voice reflects on her business… theoretically. Of course, in the past Megan has implied she was a martyr for the community, working so hard for them, whilst neatly minimising that her profit also comes from that same community

Nonetheless, she has a direct hand in what gets published, which is her right as co-owner. LT3 proactively publishes trans, bi, ace, and other less-exposed areas of the queer spectrum.

While this is obviously wonderful in a lot of ways, LT3’s prominence in this particular publishing sphere becomes concerning when you realize that Megan Derr’s personal beliefs and ethics drive the majority of the publishing decisions, and thus, what representation is produced. Given her avowed dislike of #OwnVoices (which will be expanded upon further in this report) and her insistence that the subject of a genre is not the audience for that genre, the implications are troubling.

We posit that Megan skirts the line of actionable offences, but works to “poison the well” or create a toxic environment. This is more ephemeral than other infamous instances of wank, but it is a long-running pattern of behavior with real consequences for both individuals and the community as a whole.

Social Media Climate

Recently, we compiled reports on Santino Hassell and Riptide Press, the latter of whom is still attracting attention for bad decisions.

Social media is primed for another explosion. The match was lit when the Bi Book Award finalists were announced and several Twitter users took umbrage with the two competing publishers of the year: Riptide Publishing and Less Than Three Press.  

The current call out

Twitter user BrookieRayWrite reacted to the Bi Award announcement with a threaded post, which included screenshots of Megan’s past behaviour. They referenced two incidents: Megan’s dislike of #OwnVoices—a movement in publishing to uplift authentic minority experiences so that people could find content they felt connected to—and her blog post declaring M/M is for women.

However, this was not the first time someone tried to call out Megan. Heidi Belleau, an author LGBTQ romance, posted a comprehensive thread in 2016.

The rest of which, can be found here.

Nothing came from this Twitter call out. But now Heidi has resurfaced with her complaints about Megan, and with her comes an old wank standby to defend Megan–Aleksandr Voinov.

Yep. He called her crazy. In case you missed it, Heidi Belleau takes on this moniker to analyze its silencing and delegitimizing function. In short, Voinov is not only being ableist, he is actively working to create a hostile landscape to voices critical of Megan Derr.

Moments of Note

“No Gay Aces”

In an incident that went unrecorded, but that we witnessed at the time, an author published a book with a character who identified as “gay ace.” Incensed, Megan declared that there was no such thing. This conflict is worthy of note because its exemplifies Megan’s confidence in her own rightness and her refusal to ever back down from a position, a character trait that shines through in following events.

However, perhaps it also showcases Megan’s reaction when she knows she’s incorrect—as of now, the conflict seems to have been scrubbed from GoodReads. We hesitate to include unsupported facts, but feel it is important in Megan Derr’s case to establish her pattern of behavior, in order to examine her tactics and strategy.

“Rose Lemberg”

At the height of #OwnVoices, Megan was becoming increasingly irritated over what she interpreted as a movement to outlaw people writing outside of their identity. She replied to a Tweet by Rose Lemberg—

Apparently Megan needed a reaction, because she Tweeted at Rose twice.

Megan’s interpretation of “you are not doing us a favor,” as “don’t do this,” has the unfortunate implication that she believes writing outside of her identity is doing someone a favor.

When Rose removed themself from the conversation, Megan reacted thusly:

She steamrolls over Rose’s “no spoons” comment, a clear signal in the disabled community that further engagement would be literally damaging to the respondent. The fact that she ignores that signal is incredibly ableist—and if she’s ignorant about that, it just shows how unprepared she is to write disabled characters, thus proving Rose’s point.

After confronting Rose, and not getting the response she wanted, Megan unfollowed.

Megan apologized for misgendering Rose, and we do not believe she would intentionally misgender someone. However, it does illustrate her “shoot first” nature.

“M/M Is for Women”

Turnabout is fair play, in a sense, because Megan had her own opportunity to open a discussion and then immediately block responses to it.

Megan lobbed quite the cannonball across the community’s bow with this fascinating retort against white cis gay men, prompted by a gay man who had called out the M/M genre for its fetishism of its subjects. Out of all her altercations, this one may be the most ill-advised (in a PR sense). It is also one where she found her audience not only unreceptive, but actively accusatory.

Whatever her point may have been, Megan said M/M wasn’t for gay men. Yes, Yaoi, BL, and slash fic was, on the surface level, fueled initially by a female audience. Yes, they fall under different genre conventions than the works of EM Forster and other literary authors. But there’s something undeniably and offensively entitled about declaring ownership of a genre over the actual subject of that genre.

When Megan felt that people were ignoring her reasoning unfairly, she shut down comments.

Friend/Colleague Exodus

If one were to casually take note of the comings and goings of Megan’s friends and colleagues, they may notice a gradual change in the cast of characters. The common denominator of this situation, of course, is Megan. There is a track record of Megan and her sister, Sam, saying oddly misguided and downright offensive comments to their authors, usually trans authors, at which point the relationship is ended and the author quietly moves on.

Water off a duck’s back

People in Megan’s sphere have probably noted that, controversy after controversy, nothing sticks. Even after years of wanky drama all throughout M/M’s history, with the inevitable apologies and flounces from the authors and readers at the center of each crisis, Megan keeps on trucking. The question is, what makes her different?

Leaving the realm of screenshots and facts, there’s only theory to go on. For instance, maybe the conflicts Megan faces are small enough, and far enough apart, that no one can exactly put into words why they think she should be called out. Or perhaps the people who dislike her realize some hypocrisy would come with accusing her of something. (Those in glass houses, etc.)

From a more practical angle, she almost never apologizes. Typically, the subjects of wank quibble, apologize several times, and release statements. Megan usually just posts a few accusatory tweets and then moves on after blocking anyone who could possibly question her worldview.

As evidenced by the more recent wanks, there is generally tangible evidence of harm with multiple victims stepping forward to detail their abuse. However, this takes years and momentum for this to occur. We know that Megan has her share of victims as well, and we know that they have experienced mental and emotional harm that has had real impact on their ability to work. Yet if people were to inspect why they don’t like her, would they only find several blog posts and Tweets that are abrasive and tone-deaf?

Her Modus Operandi has always been to aggressively confront someone she disagrees with (ex. Rose Lemberg) and then flounce/block when she’s challenged. Mirroring that, when someone confronts or disagrees with her, she immediately shuts down discussion (ex. M/M is for Women blog post).

As the co-owner of LT3, she also partly controls the narrative of indie LGBTQ publishing. Her choices and attitude influence the community tone and acceptable in-group culture, and, arguably, add toxicity. However, to pin down specific instances (and therefore confront and address them), is incredibly difficult—which is possibly why every call out thus far has dwindled without fanfare.  

In Summation

The overarching, and fascinating, truth about Megan is sometimes she makes sense. Unfortunately, she also says a lot of bullshit. This may come from a lack of ability to grasp nuance.

Does #OwnVoices put pressure on people to out their life circumstances for the sake of credibility? Probably, yes. But others feel confident in self-reporting, wanting their voices out there for others to hear them. Do people mispronounce white people’s names? Yes. But that doesn’t negate the racist undertones and microaggressions minorities face when people mock their names. These, among other situations, are odd hills Megan chooses to die on seemingly because she doesn’t want to understand them.

The current call out is in reaction to the Bi Awards. Certain authors have stepped forward to Tweet their protest of LT3’s nomination. They argue that Megan, as the owner of LT3, has promoted an environment that does harm to bi voices, and they feel it is inappropriate for her to be celebrated in this specific context.

The situation is still developing. From here, we can see only two branching paths. Either those running the Bi Awards rescind LT3’s nomination, or they do not.

But this event is dredging up old salt. As with any wank, one is left wondering what the conclusion should be; Exile? Apology? Loss of sales? What does a successful call out look like? Megan is a real person with a wife and a business that she has worked hard to develop. She publishes minority representation because she believes in that effort.

But her belief does not exculpate her.

She has managed to repeatedly dodge accountability. Whether this is through calculated tactics or a magical formula she managed to stumble upon doesn’t change the fact that she has actively contributed to making the community hostile to marginalized people. It doesn’t change the fact that her status as a major publisher among LGBTQIA online presses shields her, especially as those who would ordinarily call her out for bad behavior must hesitate and consider the economic ramifications of doing so.

Now, to guess what Megan might pull from this to deflect responding to the salient points? Probably that we mentioned her mom voted for Trump.

Interesting links: 

Heidi

http://archive.is/Aio1f

http://archive.li/1IknD

http://archive.li/SsQ41

Maria_Reads

http://archive.li/zPqGa

http://archive.li/kCInK

After the last post, we are back to our usual programming. It’s short and sweet today. 

Summary: More apologies. Berkley Romance dumps Sonny. We go from calls to boycott to calls to retract your work from Riptide or else. Xen X Cole appears to be an excellent human being. 

Berkley Romance severs(x) their connection with Sonny. So far, there is no mention of what they plan to do with the books they have already published.

Then Eddie Witt posts this. For those of you keeping score, I think this is the “social experiment” square on the bingo card. Megan Erickson makes another apology(x). It appears she has learned from her past mistake, somewhat. (Badapology bingo for anyone interested in playing along.)

A separate GR thread has been established for the Sarah Lyons and Riptide aspects of this mess. Rachel Haimowitz (the publisher at Riptide) makes a non-apology(x) (we’re not even sure the word apology applies here), and Xen calls her out. Riptide then goes dark.

Santino Hassell makes yet another apology(x) (and deletes their first one). Missing is any mention of the bullying, false cancer claims, catfishing, etc. They apologise for “messing up” and being an asshole and that all the lies were the result of….actually it’s very hard to know.

Those “bad” and “good” author lists people were making? We now have demands that authors either leave(x) Riptide or be labelled(x) as part of the problem. Some people point(x) out the issues(x) with that tactic(x).

If nothing else, we hope people reading this will leave the understanding that Xen X Cole is an articulate motherfucker and basically wins the internet.

Disclaimer: We are not in the industry at any level, though many of us are avid read of the MM romance genre since its early days.

In light of recent scandals in the MM romance genre and the toxic reputation the community has gained it’s time to talk about the all but absent professional boundary between content providers and consumers. It’s something that has been present in the genre since the beginning.  

Many early authors published online for free for years, even decades. In the days of LJ communities, the line dividing fan from author was very thin. As they began to publish for pay, authors built a brand out of their personalities to draw a larger audience. These authors also did not have the benefit of agents or publishers to inform them of appropriate author behaviour online.

As a result of this early history, authors and readers now commonly interact on a friendly personal level. This solidarity is a definite selling feature of the genre. Yet that very transparency between author and reader can lead to an exploitative dynamic.

It can lead to authors publicly humiliating reviewers. It can lead to reviewers giving undeservedly low ratings. It fosters inner circles versus outer circles. It allows authors to publicly air their grievances with others in the industry. It empowers fans to attack others on their author’s behalf. Publishers, agents, and editors of the genre are complicit in this.

This is not to say an interactive relationship is inherently unethical. Most authors maintain healthy relationships with their readers. But the repetition of similar SH cases tells us that something about our community attracts this breed of predator. It is not really possible to prevent another SH as these predators are master manipulators. It is possible to change our environment to make it more difficult for the next SH, and to detect the next SH earlier at lesser cost to the future victims. The question becomes, how do we preserve the positives of our genre’s roots while inhibiting the ability of bad faith actors to manipulate and exploit?

The current state of affairs has consumer confidence at a low. Already, we see people dividing authors and reviewers into “good” and “bad” based on perceived moral virtue, informed by how they respond to the current situation. The problems with this approach are many and varied, not the least of which being further abuse and questions of sincerity. Compounding the matter is that some readers still believe in the myth that SH misrepresented themselves to be, and continue to attack others on SH’s behalf. None of this alters the root factors that allowed SH to flourish.

The community needs to change. An option is to adopt the code of conduct used by many other content providers. For an author, this means not publicly engaging with a bad review. It means not directing abuse at others in the community, and encouraging fans to do the same. This is even more important for publishers, editors, and agents, because they are also representing their company. In turn, fans need to reconsider the wisdom of attacking others to support an author. They should also understand that they are only entitled to what an author chooses to reveal. However, once that information is revealed, the author has given implicit permission for the consumer to ask further questions or discuss the subject. 

MM genre’s environment of cliques was a direct contributor to the long-term exploitation SH enacted upon countless victims. Further, this environment prevented victims’ stories from being believed for far too long. Finally, it made it possible for SH to launch a near-successful counterattack against their detractors. 

We have seen SH face the consequences of being dropped by their publishers and have their books refunded en masse. We have also seen readers turn against other industry professionals for their bad faith actions, and consumer confidence drop. To their credit, some of those in the wrong have worked to rectify themselves in various ways. In the end, this storm will blow over one way or another. Yet knowing that this is just another iteration in a long line of hauntingly similar stories, we acknowledge that something is broken here.

Well, things certainly didn’t stay settled for long did it? On the one hand, we’re moving past the SH debacle, healing is happening, and so on. On the other hand, we now have Riptide Publishing and Sarah Lyons under fire.

And so once more unto the breach…

Summary: Sarah Lyons resigns from Riptide Publishing amidst accusations of inappropriate conduct (sharing unwanted sexual information, sexual coercion, and gaslighting). Along with this are stories of Riptide’s less than stellar approach to race and intersectionality.

Let us start with the fact Sarah Lyons and Riptide Publishing have parted ways(x). You might remember Sarah Lyons from the SH shitshow as the editor accused of inappropriate sexual conduct. Well, in addition to being a sexual predator, she is also accused of using and abusing relationships with others in the publishing industry. Most of the damning evidence can be found here(x). And this tweet is very telling.

In short, Sarah Lyons dangled the possibility of a job and contract over the head of an author in order to exploit him, sent him incredibly inappropriate texts (like this one), and violated all professional boundaries. This article also details interactions with Riptide in which the publisher questioned if the protagonist’’s ethnicity should be mentioned in the blurb in case it turned readers off. There is also an email from Sarah Lyons stating that although novels with PoCs will be accepted, PoC models/representation will not be put on the covers. Further accusations of Sarah Lyons exploiting the author for unpaid sensitivity consulting will surprise no one.

Riptide also comes under scrutiny. In the past, Riptide has been involved in some very unsavoury scandals. For example, creatingawebsite that glorifies slavery. This was part of the promotion for their slave-fic series. After being called out, Riptide apologised and pulled down the site. In their own words, “the idea of the immersive website was to heighten a reader’s experience of the oppression of slavery by showcasing the horrifying reality of it.” Then there is the “Dark Chocolate Love Monkey” incident (Sarah Lyons was involved in that one, too).

There are some excellent Twitter threads emerging, one of which being this one. And this one from KJ Charles (though this one was in regards to SH, it seemed relevant here). And this tweet.Courtney Milan calls out Riptide.

Of interest is this infographic from The Ripped Bodice detailing the state of racial diversity in romance publishing.

God willing, this will be the last of the daily updates. Things are dying down a bit, old friendships are being reignited and it’s more or less reactions rather than new reveals. We can probably all agree that any more dramatic reveal would probably be the end of us all. 

Part One|Part Two|Part Three

Summary:Some more half-hearted apologies and some very well written apologies. Bloggers delete review of Sonny’s books. Amazon will be doing refunds however this will financially impact Riptide.

Edit 12/03: We have been told that Eddie of gayforbooks is not the same as Eddie Witt, and any suggestion of this has been removed. In addition, as Sakura’s gender has not be specified, we have opted to use a gender neutral term “they” instead of “she”. 

Miller-Callihan (whom you might remember as Sonny’s agent) tweeted this(x). Something of a non-apology to be sure. At this point we can say many of Sonny’s most ardent defenders are not covering themselves in glory here. As Ellie Reads points out, “If your apology is all about your hurt at being conned by SH and your grief over losing a friend, it’s useless to the real victims in this situation.” A good twitter thread about why this matters with screencaps hinting at the degree of smearing that went on behind the scene.

Apologiesandstatementswithoutusing the phrases “if I hurt anyone” or a focus on their own pain. This includes Amy Jo Cousin.

Blogsareremovingtheirreviews of Sonny’s books. Riptide clarifies exactly how much a publisher really knows about the authors and what the signing process entails. Amazon is also doing refunds for purchases of Sonny’s book, though that will coming out of Riptide’s pocket, which Riptide hopes to recover from the last few royalty checks.

Sakura deactivates the sweetsakuradoll twitter (the account remains as an archive), but not without a last fuck you to Sonny. They admit to being an author who remained anon to avoid overshadowing the others involved, and did not wish to profit from this.

Roan Parrish makes a statement that says….very little, but this sentence “i’m pretty uncomfortable raising my own feelings in the context of others’ pain” is promising. Eddie Witt says this which starts off promising and then gets blamey at the end. (Eddie is LA Witt’s husband so not exactly unbiased).

We wanted to end with this post by Harper Miller, which is a neat think piece on the entire situation.

The heart of Alastair Harding’s life is duty. Becoming the first gay chief of the Metropolitan police has required certain sacrifices, but Alastair made them willingly. If his life now lacks human connections, he can’t exactly complain—and it’s a little too late for regrets.

Jay Fieldhouse knows all about sacrifice, too. Brought to London for his own safety by witness protection, Jay’s grassroots charity works day and night to save vulnerable kids from a life of crime. But getting close to other people is tough when no one really knows who you are.

When he meets Alastair one night at a charity event, Jay is intrigued by his glimpse of a gentle soul beneath the commissioner’s uniform. The two men decide to run their lonely paths side by side for a while—after all, life is short and good sex is hard to come by.

Then the shadows of the past begin to stir, and the words which go unsaid might be Jay and Alastair’s undoing.

Get it today: http://getbook.at/shelteringtree

The Sheltering Treeis J.R. Lawrie’s first full length novel, following her beloved debut anthology, Let Your Heart Be Light.

Buy it here: getbook.at/wolfandphotographer

Nikolai knew that saving the stupid, over-cheerful human’s life would mean betraying his pack. He knew it would probably get him killed. But damn it, Nikolai couldn’t just let the guy die, could he? Banished from the pack without a home, or even clothes, the last thing Nikolai needs is to take responsibility for a newly bitten werewolf…

Oliver thought a trip to Norway to practice his photography was a great idea. He thought that the warning to stay out of the forest was a bit over-cautious. He thought he was straight, too. Turns out, Oliver was wrong about a lot of things. Instead of wandering the wintery landscapes of Norway on his own, Oliver finds himself the victim of a freak wolf attack, and shortly after ends up in the company of Nikolai, the gruff (naked!) hitchhiker with a shadowed past who claims that not only are werewolves real, but Oliver is about to become one…

Together, they embark on a road trip that will lead to self-discovery, a growing attraction, unexpected feelings, and very serious danger.

Now Available for $1.99 or FOR FREE with Kindle Unlimited: http://getbook.at/wolfandphotographer

Follow the author: @nico_felicia on Twitter / https://nicolefelicia.com

J.R. Lawrie ( @mottlemoth​ ) brings you three holiday stories sure to make you fall in love this holiday season…

Buy directly from Carnation Books: carnationbooks.com/heartbelight

Full of romance, humor, sweetness, and the perfect amount of heat, this collection is perfect for an evening by the fire.

FOR SERVICES RENDERED

Dr. David Christmas has heard every joke in the book when it comes to his name. Weary of the festive season and from his long shifts in the emergency room, David is also tired of his lonely single life. His only hope for Christmas is a glimpse of the shy but gorgeous neighbour who lives above him.

Christmas-loving Julian has nurtured a crush on the grumpy man downstairs for years now. Still hurting from his ex-boyfriend’s cruelty, he hasn’t yet dared to say hello. When an injury on Christmas Eve puts Julian directly into David’s careful hands, a little healing might be on the way.

KIND OF A BIG DEAL
and
THE FARRINGDON CLUB

Up-and-coming comedian Zack Wynn splits his time between the stage and the London pizza restaurant where he works, until life hands him one hell of a Christmas present. Richard Garston is the handsome and clever older man of Zack’s dreams, but what exactly is it that Richard does?

Soon, Zack learns the truth: Richard’s classified role in the British government makes him a much bigger deal than he claimed.

Is Zack ready for the politics and power of Richard’s world?
And is Richard’s world ready for him?

Follow J.R. Lawrie on Twitter: @jrlawrieauthor

Follow Carnation Books and keep up to date on our 12 Days of Queer Romance Holidays celebration: @CarnationBooks

Let Your Heart Be Light is available for $3 in .epub and .mobi formats here:carnationbooks.com/heartbelight 

It is also available on Amazon for $3.49 here: http://getbook.at/heartbelight

Available NOW: http://getbook.at/doctorwatson

Berlynn Wohl brings you a provocative new portrait of the great detective Sherlock Holmes and his dear friend and companion, Doctor Watson. By turns tender and scintillating, the stories in this collection vividly re-imagine one of the great love stories of English literature.

We’re thrilled to announce that @berlynn-wohl​‘s collection of Sherlock Holmes stories is available now on Amazon for just $2.99 and for FREE on Kindle Unlimited! This title is also available in paperback!

Craving an interpretation of the Great Detective and his faithful Doctor Watson that emphasizes a deep, loving bond that results in hot encounters and lifelong commitment? This is the book for you. 

Get this anthology now: http://getbook.at/doctorwatson 

Get Your Copy Here!

You only die once. Unless you’re Rami.

He’s done that a couple times too many, and the last one really didn’t stick.

Rami has been a vampire for a little more than a year, and things aren’t great. They aren’t really anything. Rami’s existence is solitary. Empty. Unfulfilled. And he can’t be sure why, or how to fix it, because no one has explained to him how to be a vampire. His brief stint at a facility or people–well, former people–like him resulted in Rami biting and nearly killing his caretaker, Sage. His time there, in his memory, is nothing but a stretch of terror, hunger, confusion, and violence.

Then on Halloween, the one night of the year Rami doesn’t have to worry so much about hiding who–well, what–he is, he stumbles into a little shop and there he is. Sage. Who doesn’t remember Rami at all, so everything should be fine. Except Sage is a witch who knows about secret, magical doors to secret, magical raves full of things that go bump in the night and the humans who want to be near them. Sage’s memory isn’t quite as wiped as everyone thought. His free will isnt quite his own. He also isn’t as delicate as he seems.  And he’s not interested in staying away from Rami.

Available Now!: http://getbook.at/myimagination

Follow the author on twitter here!: @ayshaufarah​

Read Aysha U. Farah’s novelette Puss In Heels here:http://getbook.at/heels

Carnation Books is accepting submissions of short stories which meet the following criteria: 

• Stories ranging from 8,000 to 15,000 words in length
  
• Focusing on a queer romance
  
• With a Happily Ever After
  
• By fanfiction authors (the work can be scrubbed or unscrubbed fanfiction, or an original story) 
  

We are seeking stories in the following categories: 

Stories about fandom romance: Characters can be members of fandom, discovering fandom, or meeting through fandom. Think fanfic authors, cosplayers, artists, bloggers, etc.! Do your characters meet online? At a con? Randomly somehow at the grocery store? The options are endless, and we want to read them all!

-OR-

Stories featuring a relationship involving at least one character who is genderfluid, and at least one character who is a paranormal/magical/mythical creature such as: shapeshifters, were-creatures, fae, banshees, incubi/succubi, ghosts, etc. We are looking for paranormal genderfluid romance. The genderfluid character does NOT have to also be the magical/mythical character, but certainly CAN be! It’s up to you! We are particularly interested in #ownvoices stories for this category. 

Submissionsmustmeet the above criteria AND fall into one of the above categories, but if your story falls into both categories that is really awesome, please note that in the summary field of your submission!

The following elements are always welcome:

• Erotica
  
• Representation of characters from a variety of cultural and ethnic backgrounds
  
• Characters with disabilities
  
• Trans characters
  
• Non-binary/genderfluid/gender nonconforming characters (for both categories!) 
• Any genre, as long as the story is primarily a romance

SUBMISSIONS PAGE WILL CLOSE ON DECEMBER 31, 2019! 

EDIT: This deadline has been extended through January 30, 2020!

We will do our best to respond to all submissions. Please do not send inquiries about your submission. If your story is accepted, we will contact you via email. 

We look forward to reading your stories!

Click here to submit your story: http://carnationbooks.com/submissionsfall2019

Rubem is plenty happy keeping to his wine, his pets, and his extensive collection of fishnets. 

But when a sentient parasite latches to his brainstem, he’s forced out of his comfortable—if lonesome—life in search of someone in the nearby underwater steampunk city who can safely remove it. 

Here though, both the power-hungry rebels and the tight-gripped monopolies want to viciously dissect his parasite for its energy-producing abilities, and the only person offering him sincere help is the dashing and manipulative philanthropist selkie at the center of all the city’s chaos.

Odder Still is a M/M fantasy novel with a biracial and class-crossing slow burn romance, murderous intrigue, and a Marvel’s Venom-style parasite-human relationship in an underwater steampunk city. It is the first in a series, each with a romantically fulfilling ending and a final HEA, with steamy thoughts and foreplay but no explicit sex. (Content warnings for alcohol consumption and animal death.)

Are you a reviewer interesting in reading and posting an honest review for this book in early June? 

Sign up here for your ebook here! 

(You can also add this book on goodreads orsign up for an email at release!)

Anyone of my lovely friends interested in a free code for an Audiobook? One of my narrator friends just did an MM shifter romance and it’s hot. 

Let me know if you want one!