By Degrees Signed Paperbacks Giveaway

Hey all!

Today I'm over at The Novel Approach helping celebrate their fifth blogiversary, and I showed up bearing presents! Stop by to congratulate them and also to enter my giveaway. It includes an Amazon gift card, ebooks, and two sets of signed second edition paperbacks of Six Degrees of Lust and Six Degrees of Separation. See you there!

#TVD #ByDegrees #515 #SMacTalk

Music Monday

So, on this crappy Monday I thought I'd try to lift my own spirit by sharing one of my favorite Puerto Rican Christmas traditions. This is a video of a "parranda" which is basically Christmas Carols on steroids. The "parrandas" get organized at someone's house, then a bunch of people (never less than twenty) who happen to play all kinds of instruments show up at somebody else's house not earlier than two in the morning and wake you the heck up. Then the party start, and people sing and sing while the "host" cooks traditional food for them, usually asopao de pollo, which is like a rice chicken soup. Awesome times! <3

#TVD #boricua #boricuastyle

Six Degrees of Lust, Second Edition...

Tweaked, updated, longer, and better, coming at you from Dreamspinner Press on January 2, 2017.  Check it out!

Six Degrees of Lust

2nd Edition

By Degrees: Book One

New York City FBI team leader Samuel Shaughnessy lives for his immediate family and his job. After a marriage gone wrong, he has stuck to a firm rule when it comes to relationships: he doesn't have them. Sexually active and emotionally unavailable keeps him satisfied, especially now that he is in hot pursuit of a serial killer targeting gay men.

Former firefighter Machlan O'Bannon now manages a successful sports bar in Houston, and after years of waiting, he’s ready to stand up and be the man he always wanted to be: out, proud and drama-free. His politically-aligned family wants to keep him locked in the closet, but Mac just wants to meet the man of his dreams.

One man is as high strung as the other is laid back. A chance meeting brings them together, and one night of passion ignites a fire neither can fight. Their lives are not only miles apart, but as different as day and night. They don't want to get involved, but they might not be able to keep apart.

Giving Thanks...

Is a bit difficult when you've had the worst year of your adult life. I've been thinking about it and the only thing I was able to come up with was "life." I'm grateful for my daughters and for being alive. Not healthy, not in a good mental-space, definitely not in good spirits, but I'm alive, and that's the most important thing, right? It means I can keep working on myself...I can keep trying to get better. And that's great.

The year isn't over yet. Many things can happen in a little over a month, but you know what? I've decided to let 2016 go.

Looking back at the last eleven months makes me sad. There are so many things I wasn't able to accomplish—not as a woman, not as a friend, not as a professional, and last but not least, not as an author. Simply put, I completely sucked at everything day after day after day, and, as much as I'd like to, the fact is I can't turn back time. I can't change anything. And I can't keep stressing over all the things I was supposed to do but wasn't able to for one reason or another.  So this is it for me. I'm throwing in the towel on this year and using the remaining weeks to try to get to a point where I won't feel so disheartened anymore. Hopefully it will work. :-)

I'm sure no one reading this post will be surprised by this, but throwing the towel includes giving up on trying to publish anything in 2016. I can't. I don't want to. I'm a firm believer everything happens for a reason, and I'm convinced offering you guys a new story wasn't in the cards. So yeah, I'm not even going to try. I'm just going to start the new year with a bang.

Dreamspinners Press is releasing Six Degrees of Lust, Second Edition on January 2, 2017. That's good news for fans of my By Degrees series. It means Six Degrees of Agony will come out a few months after Lust. ;-)

As for Heavy Hitters...how does a late January, early February release sound? Is having back to back releases too much? What do you all think? Let me know. :-)

To those of you who have never stopped supporting me, and all the readers who have emailed me, messaged me, etc., etc., asking when I'll release some new material, I want to say THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart. You mean the world to me and your interest is the only reason I'm not giving up the writing gig. You all rock.

Have an amazing time with your families and friends on this special day. And take it from me—there's always something to be thankful for.

Love,

Taylor
xoxo

TBT Post: Knocked Down By Homophobia

Hi all!

So, those of you who follow me know that Heavy Hitters was  scheduled to release well over a year ago. Then life happened, and it kept happening, to the point where I had to take a sabbatical to care for myself. While I was away, I decided to replace the story's gorgeous first cover with another gorgeous one, because the original reminded me of a painful period in my life and I wanted a clean slate. 

And here I am, months and months later, feeling better and ready to release this baby to the world. :-)

To celebrate the June 24th upcoming release, I decided to re-post a little piece I wrote a long time ago to promote the story. Hope you enjoy, and please, feel free to share your stories. I'll be giving away two copies to commenters I'll choose randomly. :-)

Knocked Down By Machismo

I was born and raised in the beautiful island of Puerto Rico, a paradise in many ways. Tropical plants, rainforest, sunny beaches, transparent water, soft golden sand…. Do I sound like a tourism commercial yet? *g*

Down there people are friendly, family-oriented, and extremely lovable. They’re also mainly Catholic, and, to this date, ruled by machismo and gender roles. Men are expected to be brave and protect the honor of their families. They’re supposed to have excellent work ethic, be good providers, and live up to their responsibilities. Women, even if they have jobs outside the house, are expected to clean, cook, care for the children, and take orders from the husband. As simple as that. There’s little—if any—room for anything else.

Don’t get me wrong, though. Women are highly regarded.They rule the house and keep the family

united, but there’s no denying the patriarchal authority that exists in most every home. Dad says what’s allowed; he says when and how. In some cases he even subjugates his wife and resorts to domestic violence in order to prove his manhood. He wants his daughters to be like mom, and his sons to be little clones of himself. And I can tell you, not many dads are open-minded and accepting if one of their sons happens to have interests that are attributed to girls.

Such is the case with Julio Malavé, one of my main characters’ father. He’s belligerent on a good day, abusive on a regular basis, and he’s drunk most of the time. His mission in life is to make sure Santino becomes a boxing champion and behaves like a “real man,” and he has no qualms in destroying his son’s spirit in the process.

You see, coming out as gay wasn't really an option for many Puerto Rican boys. They faced discrimination, mockery, bullying, and downright abuse. A lot of times they’re killed for their sexual orientation. I wouldn’t say Puerto Rico isn’t a safe place for gay men. Hundreds of them are out and proud, but they are the exception, not the rule, and there’s a price to pay.

Heavy Hitters is a love story...a self-discovery story...self-acceptance story, and a reconciliation story with family, culture, and life. I hope you all join Luca and Santi in their journey through life. :-)


Do *you* have any experience with machismo? Any stories or opinions on the matter you’d like to share? Leave a comment below for a chance to win a copy of Heavy Hitters. I’d love to “hear” your thoughts.

Music Monday

Hi all!

I give you DNA by Little Mix, one of the songs in my Official Heavy Hitters Playlist. Also, I'm obsessed with these girls. You need to check them out, especially their acapella stuff. So good! 

Enjoy!

 

Music Monday

Hi guys!

Today I give you Years and Years' "Take Shelter" because I've had a lot of pressure in the past few weeks and I'm tired and ready to do whatever I need to do in order to protect myself. :-)

Enjoy!

 

Music Monday

Hello, my beautiful followers. :-)

I want to share a huge favorite of mine for Music Monday, Troye Sivan and his Blue Neighborhood masterpiece. Today we have Wild, Part 1 of this heartbreaking Trilogy. 

I can't tell you guys how many times I played these tracks while working on Heavy Hitters. Childhood friendship, homophobia... domestic violence... the Blue Neighborhood Trilogy theme complimented my story arc so well, it often inspired me to keep on writing. And, let's just say, a story as long as Heavy Hitter's is required a LOT of pushing. :-)

Enjoy!