It's a day late but I wanted to announce Jill P won the drawing for my portion of the Autism Blog Hop put on by RJ. 

Hello, everyone!

I hope you are having an excellent scavenger hunt. Rainbow Gold Reviews is really pulling out all the stops, so enjoy! I am offering up a single release (meaning no anthologies) to a single winner. Leave a comment and email below and I will draw a winner. But don't worry, there are a lot of other prizes so keep looking.

You can find more info here, at the Rainbow Gold Blog:

http://rainbowgoldreviews.wordpress.com/

Since the dawn of human expression, man has gazed up at the heavens in wonder, inspired by the wheeling of the stars to explain his surroundings. While our perception of those surroundings have changed, from thinking of the Earth as a flat, stable plane to realizing we’re falling through space in a tiny atmospheric bubble, our wonder remains constant.

Space stations, alien races, far-flung planets—join the Mischief Corner authors as they explore the possibilities the stars might offer. The catch? Returning to mundane old Earth might be harder than you think.

Finding Connor: The Borillian Twist, Book 1 - Toni Griffin
Mark, a RAAF fighter pilot, is on leave for the first time since the aliens decided to say 'Hello'. He meets Connor, a numbers man for a casino, at a gay bar and danced the night away. Their one night together changes their entire lives and what people think they know about life on Earth.

The Usual Conventions: Unconventional Romances 1 - Mathilde Watson
When Chris meets the alien—man—of his dreams, "Ensign Brodeich Geinn" aka actor Brody Gates, it's as one of the coordinators for the first annual OBX Science Fiction Convention in North Carolina. To his delight, Brody seems to return his interest, albeit in typical alien "Brodeich" fashion. Awkward alien or not, Chris is more than willing to play out any sexual fantasy for his SciFi crush, especially when Brody fumbles over the simplest of human conventions.

Feel Me - Freddy MacKay
One terrorist blast changed Master Tobias Zimmer's entire existence, relegating him to being nothing more than just a "Coppies" because of the metal replacing his flesh. As the once future Shogun of moon colony Orion 1, he now idles his time away keeping tabs on the Loyalists while his father and brother broker negotiations with the Earth Consortium.

A confrontation with his childhood enemy, Dr. Thorsten Nordenfelt, sets into motion events that cannot be undone and puts Tobias's sheltered heart at the center of the colony's attempts to free itself from the repressive Earth's rule.

Shax's War: Brimstone 3 - Angel Martinez
The boys desperately need a vacation. With the not-quite-ill-gotten gains from the Frog incident, Shax takes the Brimstone's crew to the exclusive resort planet, Opal. What could possibly go wrong there?

Available at Amazon (and other third party sellers soon).

Alone on his mountain, the kitsune Tadashi only wishes to be left in peace so he can mourn his lost lover and take care of his temple. Unfortunately, several townsmen who have no idea of Tadashi’s true nature have different plans for the "Jap on the mountain" and his land. When they push the kitsune too far, he reacts with horrific violence, leaving tragedy in his wake. Broken and terrified of himself, Tadashi represses his natural drives and shuts himself off from the world.

The intrusion of a lost little girl and her persistent veterinarian uncle, Berg, stumbling into Tadashi’s life, though, and turn his carefully ordered world upside-down. The reluctant hero needs to decide whether he is truly happier alone or whether he can once again embrace a truth he used to know, that life is for the living.

3rd Place, Best Gay Fantasy - 2013 Rainbow Awards

Coming April 5th! The Not in the Stars Anthology from Mischief Corner Books.

Since the dawn of human expression, man has gazed up at the heavens in wonder, inspired by the wheeling of the stars to explain his surroundings. While our perception of those surroundings have changed, from thinking of the Earth as a flat, stable plane to realizing we’re falling through space in a tiny atmospheric bubble, our wonder remains constant.

Space stations, alien races, far-flung planets—join the Mischief Corner authors as they explore the possibilities the stars might offer. The catch? Returning to mundane old Earth might be harder than you think.

My contribution to the anthology is a steampunk inspired moon colony called Orion 1 in 'The Marduk Expanse'. I loved this world I created and plan to revisit it. I would love to do a story about the inhabitants of the Elevator. Feel Me is a good mix of my writing. There are laugh out loud moments and there are sad ones, all of them encompassing a story about a young man who wanted to mean something to the only place he ever called home.


Feel Me - Freddy MacKay
One terrorist blast changed Master Tobias Zimmer's entire existence, relegating him to being nothing more than just a "Coppies" because of the metal replacing his flesh. As the once future Shogun of moon colony Orion 1, he now idles his time away keeping tabs on the Loyalists while his father and brother broker negotiations with the Earth Consortium.

A confrontation with his childhood enemy, Dr. Thorsten Nordenfelt, sets into motion events that cannot be undone and puts Tobias's sheltered heart at the center of the colony's attempts to free itself from the repressive Earth's rule.

Late in seventeenth century, the industrialized nations pooled their resources to find new kinds of energy, ones compatible with their newly found steam power. Through telescopic powers and unmanned rockets, they found the moon's surface to be rich in ores, minerals, and a special type of helium that they could use in their ships, trains and carts.

A Consortium was built, consisting of a young nation called the United Americas, the British Dynasty, the Dutch Empire, the Swedish Lords, the Prussian Alliance, the Australian Bushwackers and the Japanese Empire.

Other countries soon bought into the Consortium as well, wanting their percentage of profits. The only question was how to get to the moon so they could have unparalleled resources. The answer came in a simple invention during the early eighteenth century, one developed for the increasingly towering houses of the Nobles.

An elevator.

Debates raged. Monies thrown around. Committees formed. Political alliances brokered and broken, sometimes in the same day. Eventually though, legal documents were signed and the plans for an elevator to space were made. Once in space, they could build a platform, and from that platform, they could travel to the moon and develop it.

The Consortium poured all their resources, energy and time into the Elevator, undoubtedly the biggest engineering and architectural feat ever undertaken by man. Decades and changing technology as well as alliances caused the building of the Elevator to be slow and often dangerous work. Many young men lost their lives on the project, some were lucky enough to become old men.

By the time man reached space, several generations had been born, lived and worked on the bustling metal city of the Elevator, the people developing their own culture, language (Latium), moral codes and customs. There they had a new problem with which to contend. How to get to the moon? And more importantly, who would be controlling it?

When the people of the Elevator made it to the moon, they had harsh conditions struggle against, but their spirit could not be broken. They were made of the sky already, and could not be brought back down.

The colonists survived, thrived, and ultimately built a sustainable environment for families to live on the moon colony Orion 1, because during the decades long building of the Elevator, invention and innovation had become a life force of its own, many men becoming great thinkers and modifiers of old technology and bringing new life to it and to the people.

The original engineers and developers of the space colony found themselves now the political juggernauts of the people referred to as the Masters, and the ruling family called the Shoguns. The Zimmer family has…

 
Lifting his foot off the metal depressor of the exhibit, Tobias sighed and took a step back. He had no desire to hear about the great Zimmers and how they created the bustling hub of Orion 1 with almost two thousand permanent residents. He knew the history forward and backward. He had to. Everyone did. Unlike everyone else, Tobias was the genius extraordinaire of the Zimmer family, and the next Shogun of the colony. Or he was going to be. Now he was relegated to being a nobody.

Greetings, and welcome to stop number four in the SHRUG IT OFF tour!

Today I get to visit with my good friend, Freddy MacKay!

She’s a little bit squirrelly, so today I think I’ll talk about crazy critters.

But first, let me start by explaining how the tour works…

At each stop along my way I will randomly select one commenter to receive a free ebook from my backlist, AND, at the end of the tour, everybody who leaves a comment at any of my stops will be entered for a chance to win one of two $10 gift cards to All Romance Ebooks! Just be sure to include your email address in you comment so you can be contacted if your name is selected.

For my first stop I visited with my good friend Angel Martinez and I introduced Stephen and his constant companions. You can check that out here: http://angelmartinezauthor.weebly.com/1/post/2014/02/the-first-stop-shrug-it-off-blog-tour.html

On my second stop I introduced Connor at Iyana’s Rainbow: http://iyanajenna.blogspot.com/2014/03/in-spotlight-mathilde-watson.html

On my third stop I spent some time with Cherie in the writing cave, talking about devils and angels: http://talesfromthewritingcave.blogspot.com/2014/03/shrug-it-off-blog-tour.html

I have been hopping around this week, talking about my newest release, SHRUG IT OFF—and here’s what it’s all about:

BLURB:

For Stephen, dating is more than a challenge, it’s a nightmare!

All he wants is a man he can talk to, someone he can laugh with and be himself around. What he’s got instead is an incessant running commentary on everyone and everything. The meddling guides posted on his shoulders each have their own ideas of what Stephen should be looking for. From the right he’s urged to find a man like himself: confident, successful, and upwardly mobile. The little devil on his other shoulder is only interested in a guy’s face and what he’s got below the waist.

The two can never agree on anything—until Stephen meets Connor—and then things get really interesting…

* * * * *

Personally, I don’t think any conversation about angels and devils could possibly be complete without some discussion about cats.

Not just any cats.

Tortoiseshell cats.

I can’t speak for everyone’s experience of course, but of all the cats I’ve known—and I have known A LOT of cats—torties have always had the most distinctive personalities. They tend to choose one person, and one person only, to bestow their good graces on.

In high school, by brother had a totrie who rode around on his shoulders or balanced on his outstretched hand.

My sister had one who’s best friend was a bird. And although technically she belonged to my sister, she chose my brother as her person and waited outside his bedroom door in the mornings.

And I had one who never weighed more than six pounds, but all the other cats and the dogs always gave her a wide berth.

In my mind, a person’s pets make up an important part of who they are. My life has certainly been made richer by the animals I’ve shared it with.

In SHRUG IT OFF, Stephen lives with the constant companionship of an angel and a devil.

Connor needed someone too, so I gave him a tortoiseshell cat named Samantha. And honestly, she was one of the most fun characters I’ve ever written.

At this stop on my tour, I would love to hear stories about the animals who have made an impact on your life.

Everyone who leaves a comment of any kind—pet story or not—will be entered in the drawings to win prizes!

* * * * *

SHRUG IT OFF is available through Mischief Corner Books: https://mischiefcornerbooks.weebly.com/store/p40/Shrug_It_Off.html

All Romance Ebooks: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-shrugitoff-1439693-149.html

And on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IQBF7SA

You can find Mathilde Watson (that’s me!) online at:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mathilde.watson.author
Website: http://authormathildewatson.weebly.com 

You have no idea how excited I am that I got through and was able to register as a supporting author. Registration is pretty cut throat so I was worried I wouldn't make it. All my friends are coming into the Chicago area for the conference and (since I live in the area) , I really, really wanted to go too.

I almost did something bad when I kept refreshing and wasn't getting a shot in, but it happened and I am oh so happy.

Now I am off in search of an actual picture of me to put on the author bio. I avoid cameras like the plague so finding one isn't easy.

Oh, dear gods, what was Thorsten doing at his Portal? Why did the scourge of human existence want into Tobias's hub? No. It had to be a dream. Maybe he never really woke up at Dr. Goldstein's laboratory. The blast from the unpressurized Portal knocked him unconscious.

He had gotten knocked hard.

The pain filled nightmare with the Modifier's had been an expression of Tobias's mind wanting away from Thorsten. Yes. That could explain everything.

"Would you like to eat at the Spicy Noodles shop, or would you prefer the Indian stall with the good naan?"

Nope. Tobias sighed. This was his reality. Thorsten stood in the doorway, Tobias's coat in hand, ready to escort him to the Ichiban. The implications made his head hurt. The only saving grace at the moment would be his father hadn't contacted Tobias demanding explanations for yesterday. Maybe the negotiations kept him too busy to get angry. Probably not but one could hope. Tobias rubbed his forehead, trying not to frown too deeply.

"Or we can eat at the Hamada's Mine Restaurant. Their food is always excellent."

Tobias slid a glance to Thorsten. He had to figure a way out of this debacle waiting to happen. There was no way he could be see with the son of one of the biggest Loyalists on the colony. Gods only knew what Tobias's father would say if Thorsten continued to hang around.

Oh no. Noooooo. Oh, gods. Tobias's shook his head, feeling more caught then a helium miner without a life suit. Thorsten was mad if he thought Tobias's would walk with the dolt around Orion 1 together.

"Why are you shaking your head, Tobias? I thought you loved Hamada's Mine Restaurant," said Thorsten, crossing his arms. "You eat there all the time."

"I am not going to the Ichiban," stated Tobias quietly, controlling his voice carefully. Any perceived weakness and Thorsten would strike.

With a practiced flick of his hand, Thorsten pulled out his pocket watch then cocked an eyebrow. "You always go to the Ichiban this time of day, without fail."

Had Tobias gotten that predictable? Not good. He could become a target, or worse, the Loyalists would plan something disastrous when they knew Tobias would not be around. Bad. Very bad. How could he get so complacent? Stupid!

"Tobias?"

"What?" He snapped back, more than annoyed.

"Banging your head against the wall can't be good for you."

When had he started doing that?

"You need all your faculties undamaged. I'm not sure you have any to spare."

Not a whole lot to say really. Just a cover to show off for the MCB Anthology (Number 4!). This one is a science fiction theme, and will be out April 2, 2014.