I’m participating in the Torquere Press Lucky 7 Celebration! Here’s the press release with more info:

Torquere Press Celebrates 7th Anniversary!

Seven years?! No, we can hardly believe it either. Seven years of bringing readers the best, the sexiest, the most romantic GLBT fiction. And to celebrate, we’re giving away prizes — great themed gift baskets, gift certificates for free books every day, and a scavenger hunt that will give readers a chance to collect a deck of cards that will win big – -a Nook from Barnes & Noble!

Readers will get the chance to “collect cards” by visiting each participating author’s website, blog, or Facebook page. By collecting all the cards and filling in the form, players have the chance to win free books daily, a gift basket once each week, (including BDSM, werewolf and ménage themed baskets), and be entered in the grand prize drawing for the Nook.

We’ll also be having random sales via our blog, GLBT Romance, Facebook, and Twitter:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/profile.php?id=1182167880&ref=ts
http://twitter.com/Torquere
http://glbtromance.blogspot.com/

With bestselling GLBT romance authors like Chris Owen, Tory Temple, Kiernan Kelly, P.D.Singer, Sean Michael, and B.A. Tortuga, you’ll have a blast playing along. Just log onto Torquere Press website http://www.torquerepress.com/contest/index.html
Check out the contest page, and start hunting!

So, ya feel lucky, dude? Let’s play!

I’m poking my head back into the writing world.

I’d been working on a short story about Kirhal and Jason (my demon and demon hunter couple), on and off for the past two months.  I dug it out last week and “finished” it, sent it off for a beta-reading, and now I’m making revisions based on the feedback.  Nothing unusual about that routine. However, I have to say, it feels pretty damn good.  The revisions are going smoothly, and it feels like I never went through the struggles or took that break.  :D

I also found a few sub calls I want to write for within the next couple of months, so yeah… it looks like I’m back!  I’m crossing my fingers that I manage to stay for awhile.

Sigh.

I’m afraid I’m going to take a break from writing for awhile.  I don’t know for how long, I just know that it’s time.  Writing has been a struggle for me lately. When I manage to write a few hundred words in a day, that’s a “good” day for me.  Most days, I don’t even get close to that.  Still, I’d been trying to force it, until this past Saturday, when I read a negative review of my latest story.  It was rated 2.5, which was actually the lowest rating for a story I’ve ever had, as far as I know.  I’ll be honest — it stung.  A lot.   Now, don’t get me wrong.  I’m not throwing a tantrum and saying “Waaah… people are saying bad things about my stories… so I quit!”  I also know that particular review is just one person’s opinion (and she was very respectful in stating that opinion, by the way).   However, overall, my last few stories haven’t been nearly as well received as my previous stuff.  I should be getting better.  Not worse.  I think I’ve improved technically — I’m doing a lot less “tell” and a lot more “show”, for example — but the quality of the content seems to have fallen off, and I don’t know why.   That, and the writing struggles, tell me it’s time to back away and do something else for awhile, and come back to writing another time.  I’m getting busy with some charity volunteer work right now anyway, so at least the timing is good. Hopefully, I’ll be ready to write again in a month or two, with a fresh perspective.

Fingers crossed!

-Taylor

By the way, I don’t get “pissed” if my name is misspelled.  I just get twitchy.  :)  (If you don’t know why I threw that out there, don’t ask.  lol)

My latest story, Rain Delay, is part of the “Rainy Days and Mondays” Torquere Taste Test.   It’s about Aaron and Nathan, who had a story in the “Cherry” anthology last summer (however, you don’t need to know that story to understand this one).

Book info:

edited by Lorna Hinson, with stories by Taylor Lochland, Mercy Loomis, GR Richards

Don’t let rainy days or Mondays get you down. Let the boys of the Rainy Days Taste Test brighten you up instead! In I Don’t Like Mondays, by GR Richards, Brent and Mitch are having a rotten commute in to work. Going home to change clothes makes the rain go away pretty quickly.

In Encore, by Mercy Loomis, bandmates Derrick and Nate have great chemistry onstage, but it takes a certain kind of rainy night to really get them making music together. And in Rain Delay, Aaron loves spending time with his young lover, Nathan. What he doesn’t love is all of the interruptions that a thriving farm and a busy veterinarian practice give them. Can they take advantage of a rainy day and snatch a few glorious hours of pleasure?

Read an excerpt from Rain Delay here.

Purchase the book at Torquere Press:  http://www.torquerebooks.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=2618

The anthology, A Brush of Wings, (with my story Morning Glow) is now available!

Book blurb:  Guardian spirits walk among us. They are heavenly beings who grant courage, unknown benefactors who offer help, best friends who lend their strength, and celestial beings who embody inspiration. You might not recognize these everyday angels or messengers of mercy, but the men in this anthology are touched by their purity and light and sometimes blessed by love.

Available for purchase at Dreamspinner Press.

eBook: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=1738

Paperback: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=1757

Click here to read an excerpt from Morning Glow.

You can find excerpts from several other stories at the release party on the Dreamspinner blog.

Toy Box: Silence, with my story, No Words, is now available!

Book blurb: They say silence is golden, but can it be sexy? We think so, and here are three stories to prove it! First up is Actions Speak Louder, by DC Juris: Oscar has been with his transgender partner, Derek for a little over a year, and their love life is full of spark and adventure. Then Derek suggests they add blindfolds and gags to their repertoire, and Oscar learns that sometimes, actions speak louder than words.

In Breathing Space, by Ellis DeMesne, Jeremy’s having a bad day and it’s only getting worse. All he wants to do is go to bed and forget the whole day ever happened. But he forgets about Logan. What happens when he finally gets home and finds that his breathing space has been invaded? And to round the Toy Box out we have No Words by Taylor Lochland. Max has been enjoying sex again ever since Connor started getting kinky in the bedroom. However, Connor wishes Max would shut his big mouth and let him take charge for once. Will adding a gag to the mix satisfy them both?

Click here to read an excerpt from No Words.

Available for purchase at Torquere Press.

Just a quick update with my most recent writing-related news.

Since my last post, I’ve had two short stories accepted!  No Words will be part of the Torquere Press Toy Box: Silence mini-anthology later this month (and features Max and Connor from my Pushy Little Bottoms story), and Morning Glow will be part of an anthology about angels called A Brush of Wings, which will be published by Dreamspinner Press in March.

I currently have four WIPs,  all of them either novels or novellas.  (My goal for this year is to try breaking away from the short story habit and get some longer pieces out there):

“Giving Voice” is a story about a poet, Frank (who goes by the stage name Francisco), and Nick, a bookstore owner. Nick thinks Francisco’s poems suck, but he loves the presentation, as well as the poet.  This story was originally a 20K novella I submitted to a publisher I haven’t worked with before. They didn’t want it for their “poetic passion” novella series, but that’s fine. Now I’m turning it into a novel (or at least a long novella) and will sub it elsewhere.

Shifter story (no title yet) is about Zach, a bobcat shifter (who has terrible night vision in his human form) and Steven, a geology professor, and takes place in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.  Will probably be a novella.

Jason and Kirhal story (no title yet) continues the story of demon hunter Jason and demon Kirhal from Cool Heat and The Gift of Restraint.  Currently just over 20K written, will probably end up as a novel.

Matt and Larsehl story (no title yet) will tell the back story of Matt and Larsehl, side characters from the Jason and Kirhal stories.  Currently just an outline, will probably end up a novella.

My goal is to have all of these stories done (along with another short or two) and submitted by fall.  We’ll see if I succeed!

(closing comments for this post due to the plethora of spam it receives)

As 2009 comes to a close, I’m thinking about how much my life has changed in the past year…mostly due to writing.  I’ve become a published author and I’m learning firsthand all about the highs and lows this business brings.  I’ve learned about the pain of getting a rejection and the thrill of getting an acceptance (thankfully, I’ve had many more of the latter).  I’ve learned how getting a negative or “meh” review can make me feel like throwing in the towel, but also how getting a positive one makes me want to do nothing but write write write (again, I’ve thankfully gotten more of the latter, and the “I quit” feeling from the former usually only lasts about an hour, if that).  I’ve also learned WHAT A PAIN IN THE FRICKIN’ ASS the goddamn ebook pirates/thieves are, but I also get a kick when I see the pirated files with my stuff have been taken down.

I’ve also met lots of amazing people (mostly other authors), some of whom have become good friends.

Here’s to hoping 2010 is a great year for all of us!

To celebrate, I offer another free story.  This one’s quite short (about 2600 words), and it features my demons and humans from Cool Heat and The Gift of Restraint, but you don’t have to be familiar with those stories to understand this one.  It’s about how Jason and Kirhal (and Matt and Larsehl) spend their New Year’s Eve and is absolutely NOT safe for work!

http://taylorlochland.com/DevilishlyHappyNewYear_TLochland.pdf

(I edited the story slightly on Jan. 6, after finally understanding the difference between “show” vs. “tell”.  Thank you, Patric!)

-Taylor

Merry Christmas/ Happy Holidays/ Season’s Greetings!

As a Christmas gift to my readers (and potential readers), I’m offering a free story about Felix and Julian from The Meaning of Perfection and Better Than Money.

A trip to visit Julian’s family for Christmas is mentioned in Better Than Money, and this story is about what happens during that trip.

It’s safe for work (except maybe a few swear words)– sorry! 

It was self-edited, so please forgive any errors.

http://taylorlochland.com/Meaning_of_Family_tlochland.pdf

“Better Than Money”, my holiday novella (and first novella), is now available at Dreamspinner Press.

Blurb: Jack and Felix both worked as escorts until Felix found love with Julian, the owner of the hotel where they meet clients. Their happiness makes Jack wonder what he’s missing, but his occupation doesn’t exactly lend itself to finding out—until he meets limousine chauffeur Charlie. While they hit it off right away, they each have problems to overcome if they want to build something permanent together.

*Read about Felix and Julian in “The Meaning of Perfection”, part of the Sindustry, vol. 2 anthology.

Click here for more info and an excerpt

Click here to purchase from Dreamspinner

For those who prefer to shop through a distributor, it’s now also available through All Romance eBooks and Fictionwise.