UPDATE: The winner is…flchen1!
*~*~*
I’ve participated in several charity anthologies before, but they’ve always been when I sought out the project. For this anthology, I was contacted by Xio Axelrod and offered the opportunity to join. I’d seen previous volumes in this series and when she messaged me, I thought huh??? She can’t possibly mean me. She must be mistaken. I’m a newer author in the gay romance genre. At the time, I’d published four novellas, a short story, and one novel. I kept thinking, there must be some mistake. That being said, I sent back my agreement right away and started writing a novella. I figured if I gave it to them, they’d have to include it, right? (Assuming the story was good enough, of course.)
I wrote my heart out and Page Against the Machine is the result. I’m happy with my novella, and I’m hoping readers will enjoy it as they gobble up the other stories in the anthology. The two organizations we’re giving the money to are near and dear to me. Of course, I know the Matthew Shepard story, and with all that is going on in Texas right now, I’m happy to lend my support to Equality Texas. In fact, as I look around, I realize how blessed I am to live in Canada. We’re not perfect, but we don’t actively have people trying to take away our rights. As a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, I found stepping up even more important.
I hope you’ll buy the anthology. I hope you’ll enjoy all the stories. We, as authors, pour our hearts into these stories. We do it out of love. Inclusive love. Abiding love.
And, I wouldn’t be a good guest (thank you so much Delilah), if I didn’t offer a prize. For a $5 Amazon GC, drop a note. Have you read an inclusive story of some kind that moved you? (Doesn’t have to be a gay romance.) Good luck!
Love is All
The fifth edition of Love Is All features nine brand new stories from bestselling and award-winning authors, including BL Maxwell, Chantal Mer & Susan Scott Shelley, Connor Peterson, Gabbi Grey, Nic Starr, R.L. Merrill, Sean Michael, Sophia Soames, and Xio Axelrod. They celebrate the universal human right that is to love and be loved.
All proceeds from the anthology will go to two organizations that support and defend LGBTQIA+ rights: the Matthew Shepard Foundation and Equality Texas.
The anthology will only be available for a limited time.
Links:
https://books2read.com/liav5
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Love-All-5-Xio-Axelrod-ebook/dp/B0B3Z4ZY4H/
Add it to Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61212762-love-is-all
About the Authors
Xio Axelrod
Xio Axelrod is a USA Today bestselling author of different flavours of contemporary romance. She also writes what she likes to call strange, twisted tales. Xio grew up in the music industry and began recording at a young age. When she isn’t writing stories, she can be found in the studio, writing songs, or performing on international stages (under a different, no-so-secret name). She lives in Philadelphia with one full-time husband and several part-time cats.
Chantal Mer
Chantal Mer is an author and optimist. Her stories explore relationships and what it means to be family. When she’s not writing about strong women, strong men, and strong love, she can be found walking her adorable dog, volunteering at her kids’ school (in the library, of course), teaching at the local university, and reading.
Chantal lives outside of Philadelphia with her husband, kids, Toffee the Wonder Dog, and vicious cat, Gracie.
Susan Scott Shelley
USA Today bestselling author Susan Scott Shelley writes stories with heat and heart, where love always wins. Her romances give readers lighthearted and emotionally satisfying escapes into happily ever after. In addition to crafting stories, she is also a professional voiceover artist and enjoys lending her voice to a wide range of projects.
She lives in Philadelphia with her husband and is an avid fan of her hometown sports teams. Her favorite things include running (honestly, it’s more like jogging), sports (especially hockey), hard rock (but will listen to anything from heavy metal to show tunes), and writing about people from all walks of life finding their special someone.
R.L. Merrill
R.L. Merrill brings you stories of Hope, Love, and Rock ‘n’ Roll featuring quirky and relatable characters. Whether she’s writing contemporary, paranormal, or supernatural, she loves to give readers a shiver with compelling stories that will stay with you long after. You can find her connecting with readers on social media, educating America’s youth, raising two brilliant teenagers, writing horror-infused music reviews for HorrorAddicts.net, trying desperately to get that back piece finished in the tattoo chair, or headbanging at a rock show near her home in the San Francisco Bay Area! Stay Tuned for more Rock ‘n’ Romance.
Rochelle Merrill brings you Fun, Fresh Fiction with Feeling. If R.L. Merrill is your local hard rock/metal radio station, Rochelle is her Adult Contemporary alter ego. Spinning feel-good stories to make you laugh and swoon, Ro writes romance for grown-ups who use their words (mostly) and take care of business. She’s a mom and wife who’s on hiatus from a career in education while she explores the new terrain of mid-life adventures. You can catch her walking and gardening in her neighborhood by the Bay, spoiling her rescue pets, and dreaming of attending concerts and theaters again someday. Stay Tuned for more hits coming your way…
Sean Michael
Often referred to as “Space Cowboy” and “Gangsta of Love” while still striving for the moniker of “Maurice,” Sean Michael spends his days surfing, smutting, organizing his immense gourd collection and fantasizing about one day retiring on a small secluded island peopled entirely by horseshoe crabs. While collecting vast amounts of vintage gay pulp novels and mood rings, Sean whiles away the hours between dropping the f-bomb and persuing the kama sutra by channeling the long lost spirit of John Wayne and singing along with the soundtrack to “Chicago.”
A long-time writer of complicated haiku, currently Sean is attempting to learn the advanced arts of plate spinning and soap carving sex toys.
Barring any of that? He’ll stick with writing his stories, thanks, and rubbing pretty bodies together to see if they spark.
Sophia Soames
Sophia Soames is a Scandinavian, UK based, Author of contemporary MM romance. She writes stories of everyday people with kids and families living real life fairytales.
Nic Starr
Nic Starr lives in Australia where she tries to squeeze as much into her busy life as possible. Balancing the demands of a corporate career with raising a family and writing can be challenging but she wouldn’t give it up for the world.
Always a reader, the lure of m/m romance was strong and she devoured hundreds of wonderful m/m romance books before eventually realising she had some stories of her own that needed to be told!
When not writing or reading, she loves to spend time with her family–an understanding husband and two beautiful daughters–and is often found indulging in her love of cooking and planning her dream home in the country.
Connor Peterson
Connor Peterson is a USA Today bestselling author of LGBTQ+ urban fantasy and dark, paranormal romance, local to the Philadelphia, PA area. The madman behind Deathspell and Temptation in Neon, Connor has also contributed to the story cycle Red Phone Box – published by Ghostwoods Books – and the anthology Nocturnal Embers – published by Crimson Melodies Publishing. He is also an active participant in the Philadelphia writing community, and volunteers as a municipal liaison for National Novel Writing Month.
BL Maxwell
BL Maxwell grew up in a small town listening to her grandfather spin tales about his childhood. Later she became an avid reader and after a certain vampire series she became obsessed with fanfiction. She soon discovered Slash fanfiction and later discovered the MM genre and was hooked.
Many years later, she decided to take the plunge and write down some of the stories that seem to run through her head late at night when she’s trying to sleep.
Gabbi Grey
USA Today Bestselling author Gabbi Grey lives in beautiful British Columbia where her fur baby chin-poo keeps her safe from the nasty neighborhood squirrels. Working for the government by day, she spends her early mornings writing contemporary, gay, sweet, and dark erotic BDSM romances. While she firmly believes in happy endings, she also believes in making her characters suffer before finding their true love. She also writes m/f romances as Gabbi Black and Gabbi Powell.
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