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Meet the TRICKED Authors: Chace Verity

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Tricked: An Anthology of Short Fiction Hey folks!  I'm back to finish up this series of trickster-themed interviews with the  TRICKED  anthology authors.  If you haven't grabbed a copy yet, check out this collection of stories filled with tricksters, scoundrels, plot twists, and conspiracies. And if you have read it, we'd love if you could take a second to leave a quick review on Amazon or Goodreads . Ratings  and reviews help more people find these stories! Chace Verity, author of queer romances, is here today to talk about tricksters and their contribution to Tricked. "Lucky Charm" is a humorous m/m romance set in 1928 about a Deaf movie star who seeks revenge on his ex by teaming up with his old childhood friend to pull off Tinseltown's most petty heist. I adore the two main characters in this story, and I'm pretty sure you will too! So ... let's get to know Chace! Without giving anything important away, who is your trickster in "Luck

Meet the TRICKED Authors: Hannah Joseph

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Tricked: An Anthology of Short Fiction Hi there!  I'm back to continue our series of interviews featuring fun, trickster-themed questions and answers with each of the TRICKED anthology authors. If you haven't grabbed a copy yet, check out this collection of stories filled with tricksters, scoundrels, plot twists, and conspiracies! Today I have   Hannah Joseph, who also writes as Stephanie Eding and who loves writing about both pirates and fried food. In Hannah's story, "High Interest Levels," Lennox Hatfield is tired of living under his rich dad’s suffocating reign, so he devises a revenge plan to run off with the family’s bank fortune. Let's get to know Hannah a little better! Without giving anything important away, who is your trickster in "High Interest Levels," and what inspired you to write their story? My main trickster here is Lennox Hatfield, accounts manager. Lennox works at a bank owned by his demanding and unsupportive fathe

Meet the TRICKED Authors: M.Z. Medina

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Tricked: An Anthology of Short Fiction Thanks so much to everyone who helped us celebrate the release of Tricked last Friday! We had a blast over at the Facebook party, and we hope everyone who got a copy is enjoying the stories. I'm back today to continue our series of interviews featuring fun, trickster-themed questions and answers with each of the anthology authors. Today I have fantasy and speculative fiction writer M.Z. Medina. In M.Z.'s gorgeous fantasy story, "Whispers of Ink," the main character, Elene, discovers her sister has attracted the attention of an Old One. She attempts to dissuade his interest by reading him awful love letters she passes as her sister’s, but as their daily meetings progress, is Elene really trying to trick him, or just her own heart? Let's get to know M.Z. a little better! Without giving anything important away, who is your trickster in "Whispers of Ink," and what inspired you to write their story? There

Meet the TRICKED Authors: Kate Sheeran Swed

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Tricked: An Anthology of Short Fiction Hey everyone! I'm so excited, because today I have a special treat. To celebrate the release of Tricked  (out today, so grab a copy!), I'll be posting a series of interviews featuring fun, trickster-themed questions and answers with each of the anthology authors. Today we're kicking things off with the anthology's editor, science fiction and fantasy writer Kate Sheeran Swed. In Kate's story, "It's All Fun and Games Until Someone Usurps the Galaxy," the Supreme Galactic Emperor gets more than he bargains for when he takes on an ambitious building project. And that's all we can say about that. No spoilers here! But I guarantee this is a fantastic story you don't want to miss. Now, let's get to know Kate a little better. . . Without giving anything important away, who is your trickster in "It's All Fun and Games Until Someone Usurps the Galaxy," and what inspired you to write thei

TRICKED Story Preview and Pre-Order

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Good news! Tricked: An Anthology of Short Fiction is now available for pre-order on Amazon ! Tricked  is an adult anthology of stories featuring trickster themes, each filled with conspiracies, scoundrels, and plot twists galore. All proceeds will benefit Food for the Hungry. In it you'll find my own contemporary romance story, "Tastes Like Chicken," that features a waitress struggling to complete her deceased twin's bucket list. She convinces her coworker/nemesis to take her frogging so she can cross off one of those items: winning a frog jumping contest. Shenanigans, trickery, and magical swamp lusting ensue! Here's a preview at the opening page  . . . "Tastes Like Chicken" excerpt by Leigh Landry from Tricked: An Anthology of Short Fiction Reagen Savoie didn’t spend every shift itching to burn down the Frog Town Tavern. Tonight, however, she wished she could mentally set fire to every piece of frog-themed kitsch in the dark, dank re

Monthly Intentions: ~Create~

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Many Decembers ago, I started picking a word for the year ahead instead of making resolutions. I'm pretty goal oriented, but I enjoyed setting a single word or phrase as a guiding intention for the year. It's easy to hold that as a feeling or value I want to hold tightly and help make decisions through the upcoming months. Then I hit The Spring of 2018. Phew. Let's just say it's been a ride since then, ok? Coming out of that now, my decision-making process is shaky, and I feel like I've hit a lot of transitions on a lot of different fronts in my life. Every month, every week, every DAY brought new challenges, and I was exhausted and ill-equipped to roll with the changes. So I went back to what I knew. I picked a word, not for the year, but for the week. I started with Breathe , because yes, I needed to get that fucking basic. And it helped. That week, I focused on my breath. I would breathe through rough moments. I took deep breaths before I had to make decision

Monthly Favorites Roundup: July 2018

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This will be the first in my series of monthly roundups. I won't list all  the media and stories I've consumed or even all those I've enjoyed. Just a few highlights or things I really want to share or talk about. Give me a shout in the comments if you want to rec something similar to what you see in my list, or if you just want to share your own love for anything here! What I've been reading : So many last minute passes through Rim Shot Rebound . So. Many. (That counts, yes?) A Princess in Theory  by Alyssa Cole - This was the book that pulled me out of my full-length novel reading slump. So much fun, and I can't wait for the next book. Hard to Find  by Chase Verity - This collection of friendship stories features LGBTQIA+ characters, and I swear to you reading this felt exactly like a warm, comforting book hug.<3 What I've been listening to : The Duchess Deal  by Tessa Dare - This was my first Tessa Dare book ever, and it had some of the m

20 Ways to Celebrate (even if you kind of suck at celebrating)

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One of my most valuable skills is my ability to move right on to the next project once I finish one. It's how I get sh*t done, and it's a vital skill for a freelancer. The downside is it can be so easy to forget (or ignore) the need to celebrate accomplishments. And truly, it IS a need, especially for writers who spend their days correcting their work and asking other folks for feedback on what to change/correct. Even the most respectful, constructive feedback can pile up in the back of your mind and get internalized as negative messages. (And we aren't even talking about negative reviews or submission rejections!) An easy way to balance out that negativity is to invite plenty of positive energy into your life by celebrating your successes. Unfortunately, some of us (*cough*) weren't born celebrators or didn't grow up in an environment where things were celebrated, and we need to actually work and develop tools to help us learn how to PAUSE and revel in our achiev

My Favorite Romance Tropes

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Gather any group of romance readers and they're bound to eventually chat about tropes. We love discussing our favorite romance tropes and sharing our favorite books that feature each. You can view a big list of romance tropes on Mindy Klasky's site . For writers, it's a great reference when you're brainstorming or when you find yourself using the same tropes over and over and want to try some different combinations.  All the Kissing also recently did a post on some popular tropes with lists of book examples for each. I love that everyone has their own favorite flavors and that we as writers get to mix them up like wacky Ben & Jerry's combos. YUM! In my current series so far, I've used friends to lovers, sister's best friend, single parent, second chance, and a twist on the workplace romance. With book three, I even used a trope I said I'd never write: secret baby/pregnancy. Never say never, I guess! I will say it can be fun to take tropes you don&

Rim Shot Rebound - Cover and Excerpt

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*** Here's a first look at the opening scene of Rim Shot Rebound , the third novella of the Cajun Two-Step  series , releasing in July 2018! ***  RIM SHOT REBOUND by Leigh Landry Chapter 1 Don’t puke. Kelsey had been giving her body that one little command ever since she drove onto Robin’s property. Unfortunately, her stomach was completely ignoring her and currently staging a mutiny. She wasn’t usually sick this late in the day, especially if she’d eaten a decent dinner. Her little pep talk had been working all through the long drive down country roads to Robin’s adorable house out in the middle of Nowhere, Louisiana. Kelsey shouldn’t have had any problem keeping her stomach in check through their weekly rehearsal. But then she’d heard that familiar knock—their old college drum cadence—on Robin’s kitchen door. “Eric!” Robin, their accordion player and band ring leader, pulled his tall, lanky-but-solid frame in for a hug. She was a full head and a half shorter than

New Releases: a book and baby kitties!

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Phew! It's been a wild ride so far this year. I've really busy finalizing and publishing my second novella, Six String Sass , which released last week (yay!), and I'm finally getting a chance to breathe and enjoy the excitement and satisfaction that come with putting a new book out in the world. I loved working on that book so much, and I'm looking forward to finishing up the series after I take a week or so off to work on a couple of other (SECRET, for now) projects. In other news, we have new houseguests ... Meet Mama Pasta, Noodle, and Linguine! Last week (yes, in the midst of release week chaos) we took in a nursing cat and her three-day-old kittens. We've never fostered such tiny kitties before, so we're kind of learning on the fly. Basically we're giving Mama Pasta lots of love and support so she can take care of her littles. We have a whole room set up for her (where we keep all of our fosters), but so far she can't roam fo

2018 Goals and a Look Back

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Happy New Year!!! This is my favorite time of year. A fresh slate. New goals to break down. Chilly nights snuggled up with my dreams and my planner. <3 Last year was filled with a lot of personal ups and downs, but I kept my head down and made a good bit of professional headway. One of the biggest leaps I made was starting a new series and releasing  my debut novella ! We also added a new guy to our household: Vader & Meelo The new guy is the one on the right, and he's made himself quite at home already. I'll probably do a separate post on how he's fitting in later this month. Goals for 2018 In the year ahead, I plan to finish my Cajun Two-Step  series and write a few short stories set in that same world. I'm already working on one of those, a prequel story involving the main character of book two. I'd also like to get back to working on the mystery romance series I started and put aside for a while. I probably won't be publishing the f