SECRET IDENTITIES:  A BOYS BEHAVING BADLY ANTHOLOGY
Editor: Delilah Devlin
Deadline: November 15, 2023

SECRET IDENTITIES is open to all authors.

Editor/Author Delilah Devlin is looking for stories for a romantic erotica anthology tentatively entitled SECRET IDENTITIES:  A BOYS BEHAVING BADLY ANTHOLOGY.

Why write a short story for this collection? Well, it’s certainly not about making a lot of money, so why do it at all? I’ve said this before, many times, but here are my thoughts…

Writing a short story for a call for submissions is a chance to flex your writing muscle! It can be a chance to experiment with a genre you’ve never written. If you’ve never written a story in first person but don’t want to begin by writing an entire novel using it, start short! For myself, I’ve written stories in new genres or with fresh themes that ended up being so much fun to write they’ve spawned entire series.

You have a deadline! I don’t know about you, but I have trouble keeping my butt in the chair without one!

It’s a promotional opportunity! If selected, you’ll be joined by 12-15 other authors for the launch, sharing your audiences and, hopefully, picking up new readers along the way. Having your story in the collection is another chance to be “seen.”

And remember, you retain the rights to your story, so you can republish it for individual sale or give it away to attract subscribers to your newsletter. You might even decide there’s more story to tell and expand your short story into a novel.

Here’s what I’m looking for…

SECRET IDENTITIES: A BOYS BEHAVING BADLY ANTHOLOGY will include stories that satisfy the reader who craves stories about mysterious, enigmatic men. Perhaps, they’re the new next-door neighbor with a mysterious past that finds him just as he’s meeting a woman he doesn’t want to leave. Maybe he’s an alien from a far-away galaxy looking for his fated mate. Could he be a spy setting up surveillance on another suspected spy? An assassin scouting his target who discovers his handlers lied about the reasons for targeting a particular individual he’s intrigued by? Is he a werewolf living in the human world? Yes! So many ways to go.

SECRET IDENTITIES will seek stories with varied settings here on earth—present, past, or future—or on another planet or moon in this solar system or in a galaxy far, far, away.  Heroes and heroines might be more than human—supernatural creatures or even aliens and cyborgs.

I’m open to any subgenre of erotic romance you want to write. I’ll accept contemporary, historical, science fiction, or paranormal stories, and I won’t be picky about whether the stories are hetero, LGBT, ménage… Basically, you, the author, can go anywhere your imagination takes you so long as 1) the story is a romance, and 2) you have a bad boy somewhere on the pages!

The anthology will be sold at a low price—my intent is exposure for you and your writing. The more readers reached, the better! You will retain the rights to your story so that, at a later date, you can republish your stories individually.

I’m seeking hot and inventive stories from authors with unique voices, and above all, I’m looking to be seduced by tales filled with vivid imagery and passion.

Published authors with an established world may use that setting for their original short story.

This is erotic romance, so don’t hold back on the heat. Stories can be vanilla or filled with kink but don’t miss describing the romantic connection between strong-willed individuals learning to trust and love one another. A deep sensuality should linger in every word. Keep in mind that there must be a romantic element with a happy-for-now or happy-ever-after ending. Strong plots, engaging characters, and unique twists are the ultimate goal. Please, no reprints. I want original stories.

How to submit: Prepare your 2,500 to 5,500 words story in a double-spaced, Arial, 12-point, black font, Word document (.doc or .docx) OR rich text format (.rtf), with pages numbered. Indent the first line of each paragraph half an inch and double space (regular double spacing; do not add extra lines between paragraphs or do any other irregular spacing). U.S. grammar (double quotation marks around dialogue, etc.) is required.

In your document at the top left of the first page, include your legal name (and pseudonym, if applicable), mailing address, email address, and a 50-words or less biography, written in the third person, and send to bbbsecretidentities@gmail.com. If you are using a pseudonym, please provide your real name and pseudonym and make it clear which one you’d like to be credited as. Authors may submit up to 2 stories. I will try to respond no later than February 28, 2024, with decisions.

Payment will be USD 25.00 ninety days after publication at the end of that month.

Who is Delilah Devlin?

Delilah Devlin is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of romance and erotic romance. She has published over two hundred stories in multiple genres and lengths and has been published by Atria/Strebor, Avon, Berkley, Black Lace, Cleis Press, Ellora’s Cave, Entangled, Grand Central, Harlequin Spice, HarperCollins: Mischief, Kensington, Kindle, Montlake, Penthouse, Running Press, and Samhain Publishing.

Her short stories have appeared in multiple Cleis Press collections, including Lesbian Cowboys, Girl Crush, Fairy Tale Lust, Lesbian Lust, Passion, Lesbian Cops, Dream Lover, Carnal Machines, Best Erotic Romance (2012), Suite Encounters, Girl Fever, Girls Who Score, Duty and Desire, Best Lesbian Romance of 2013, and On Fire. For Cleis Press, she edited Girls Who Bite, She Shifters, Cowboy Lust, Smokin’ Hot Firemen, High Octane Heroes, Cowboy Heat, Hot Highlanders and Wild Warriors, and Sex Objects.

She has also edited Conquests: An Anthology of Smoldering Viking Romance, Rogues: A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology, Blue Collar: A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology, Pirates: A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology, Stranded: A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology, First Response: A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology, Cowboys: A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology, and Silver Soldiers: A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology.

Direct any questions regarding your story or the submission process to Delilah at bbbsecretidentities@gmail.com.

UPDATE: The winner is…Mary Preston!
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What is it with the media and ageism? I will turn 67 this year and I bristle when some commentator denigrates President Biden for being 80. Gray Panthers unite! I guess the media hasn’t heard 80 is the new 60. So to those who view seniors through a negative lens I’m using this Juneteenth to celebrate 95-year old Opal Lee, the Grandmother of Juneteenth.

On June 19, 1865, enslaved African-Americans in Galveston Texas learned they had been free since the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation. Born October 7, 1926 in Marshall, Texas, Opal fondly remembered the games and food of her community’s Juneteenth celebrations. She also remembered a June 19th in 1939 when a white mob burned her family’s home, forcing them to relocate to Forth Worth. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1953 from Wiley College. She received her Master’s degree in counseling and guidance from North Texas State University in 1963. She retired in 1977 from her work as a home/school counselor.

With forty years of community activism under her belt, Opal made it her mission to have Juneteenth celebrated as a national holiday. In 2016, she started a walking campaign comprised of walks 2.5 miles long to represent the 2.5 years it took for enslaved African-Americans in Galveston Texas to finally learn they had been freed by the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation Act. She accepted invitations to walk in cities all over the country. These walks ended in 2017 in Washington D.C. where she presented her petition of over one and one half million signatures. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee from the 18^th district of Texas co-sponsored a bill to make Juneteenth a federal holiday. President Biden signed that bill in 2021, making Juneteenth, June 19^th the nation’s 12th federal holiday.

Honors and tributes poured and continue to pour in for the retired schoolteacher. Hers is the second portrait of an African American to hang in the Texas state house. Her alma mater University of North Texas bestowed an honorary doctorate upon her. This year, Philadelphia declared June 5^th Opal Lee Day.

But not one to rest on her laurels, Opal’s walks continue because work still needs to be done. She told an NPR interviewer that Juneteenth is not just a Texas thing or an African American thing. It’s about freedom. “As long as there’s homelessness and joblessness and things some people get that others can’t, climate change that we are responsible for, as long as we don’t address these things, we aren’t free.” She is working on establishing the National Juneteenth Museum in Fort Worth. You can check out Opal’s continuing activities on her website: https://www.opalswalk2dc.com/about.

So, the next time you hear someone make an ageist remark, think of Opal Lee and all the other remarkable seniors who don’t let age stop them from changing the world. For a chance at a $10 gift card leave a comment about Opal’s story or about a senior in your life whom you admire.

“The Spirit to Resist” by Michal Scott from
Hot and Sticky: A Passionate Ink Charity Anthology

A woman may be made a fool of if she hasn’t the spirit to resist, but what does she do if, for the first time in her life, being made into a fool is exactly what she wants?

Excerpt from “The Spirit to Resist”

He scooted closer so his lips brushed her ear. “I’ve got a viewing room booked at Mrs. Wanzer’s. You have heard of Mrs. Wanzer’s?”

His breathy syllables coiled in Florence’s ear with serpent-seducing slyness. A jolt of arousal skittered across Florence’s labia.

“Of course I have.” Florence firmed her lips. Who didn’t know about Mrs. Wanzer’s and what went on there? Or at least, imagined what went on there.

William huffed on his nails and polished them against the lapel of his jacket. “Bet there’s a lot of knowledge you could glean there.”

An arousing but annoying friction roiled Florence’s sex at the possibility. No one spoke of Mrs. Wanzer’s except behind hands covering salacious whispers. What she wouldn’t give to have firsthand experience about sex rather than book knowledge.

“Are you vanilla enough to take advantage of this once in a lifetime offer?”

A wet yes pooled between her legs. She scrutinized William. Was this really a chance to gain the firsthand knowledge she wanted? Or was this serpent, like the one in the Garden of Eden, using knowledge of her desire to his own end?

William shrugged. “But you’re heading back to Brooklyn tomorrow,” he said in a tone heavy with resignation. “Having to pack will, I’m sure, curtail any time you’ve got for real schooling.”

He stood then turned to leave. She grabbed his arm and forced him to face her.

“What time can we go?”

Buylinks: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C5RSJS5M
https://books2read.com/u/3nNDnx  (ebook preorder only)

UPDATE: The winner is…Stephanie!
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We’re almost there. Now, you can only vote for one theme for the next Boys Behaving Badly Anthology! Don’t know what these anthologies are all about? Check them out here: Delilah’s Collections.

Of course, next, I’ll need to come up with a clever idea for the title. Maybe you can help with that, too…

The Final Poll

For a chance to win a $5 Amazon GC, take a stab at a title for your favorite theme below!

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UPDATE: The winner is…Diane Sallans!
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A friend introduced me to gay romances, and I was hooked.  As time progressed, I immersed myself in the stories out there.  I gobbled up audiobooks like there was no tomorrow.  I also read eBooks, haunted Facebook, and got to know members of the LGBTQ writing community.

Next, I turned my hand to writing a story.  A story I believed in.  A story I felt needed to be told. Then, one random day, I managed to sell that book.  A gay romance. I have to tell you, that felt pretty monumental.  By the time that novella was published, I’d written the next story.  And soon I had the one after that.  Now I’m up to more than a dozen stories published.

But I still, at times, feel like I’m on the outside looking in.

All groups have the cool kids.  The ones other kids envy or look up to or admire or just want to be like. Some of the authors I avidly follow, and whose books I gobble up, are who I consider the cool kids.  Some are prolific and well-known, while others are just steady and have been around forever.

I wasn’t sure I’d ever not feel like an outsider until I was approached to do this charity anthology last year.  At the time, this was my fourth charity anthology — but I’d sought out the others.  On this occasion, someone contacted me.  Invited me.  That felt…special.  Most especially because I’m a huge supporter of LGBTQ rights.  This anthology, for me, is a way to give back.

Last year’s story was fun to write and I enjoyed being part of the group of authors releasing their stories into the world.  To be invited back for a second year was pretty fricking awesome.  Again, I was happy to contribute a novella set in my fictional world of Mission City, British Columbia.

Our organizers have picked amazing charities for this year’s proceeds.  My fellow writers and I have put together 10 pretty great stories.  I’m hoping everyone will run out and grab a copy of this anthology!

Thank you, Delilah, for hosting me today.  I’d like to give away a $5 Amazon GC to one random lucky commenter.  Tell me: what makes you choose to buy an anthology?  Drop a comment and you might win a prize! ~GG

Love Is All, Volume 6

The sixth edition of LOVE IS ALL features ten brand new stories from bestselling and award-winning authors, including BL Maxwell, Chantal Mer & Susan Scott Shelley, Connor Peterson, Gabbi Grey, Nic Starr, Sean Michael, Lee Blair, Xio Axelrod, RJ Scott & V.L. Locey, and Piper Malone. They celebrate the universal human right that is to love and be loved.

All proceeds will go to three organizations that support and defend LGBTQIA+ rights: the Unity Coalition, Out Memphis, and Lucie’s Place.

The anthology will only be available for a limited time.

Links:
Universal Link: https://books2read.com/LIAV6
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C6B81B65
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/love-is-all-xio-axelrod/1143550964
KOBO: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/love-is-all-volume-6
Apple: https://books.apple.com/…/love-is-all…/id6449547111
Add it to Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/162407970-love-is-all

The Charities

https://www.unitycoalition.org/ is a Latinx and indigenous organization in Florida that organizes and supports several LGBTQ+ arts, leadership, and awareness programs across Florida, including the Miami Gay Chorus and the “Saber es Poder” campaign for HIV education and testing.

https://www.outmemphis.org/ offers direct aid and support programs to queer and trans people in Tennessee. Regular events at the center’s main facility include free HIV testing, trans ID workshops and financial aid for name changes, community meals, and peer support and social groups for both teens and adults. The organization also runs The Metamorphosis Project, a program providing emergency support and transitional housing to unhoused LGBTQ+ youth.

And https://www.luciesplace.org/ named for Lucie Marie Hamilton, a young trans woman who died in 2009 — is a nonprofit in Arkansas that provides services to unhoused LGBTQ+ young adults, including transitioning resources and grocery and rental assistance. The group also runs a drop-in center with shower facilities and a community closet for all members who have completed an intake form.

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.

RJ Scott

RJ Scott is a USA TODAY bestselling author of over 140 romance and suspense novels. From bodyguards to hockey stars, princes to millionaires, cowboys to military, she believes that love is love and every man deserves their own happy ending.

VL Locey

V.L. Locey loves worn jeans, Dr. Who, Torchwood, belly laughs, yoga, reading and writing lusty tales, walking, Greek mythology, the New York Rangers, comic books, and coffee. (Not necessarily in that order.)

She shares her life with her husband, her daughter, one dog, two cats, and a flock of assorted domestic fowl.

When not writing lusty tales, she can be found enjoying her day with her menagerie in the rolling hills of Pennsylvania, fresh cup of java in hand.

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.

Lee Blair

Lee Blair is a queer author from Oregon who writes low angst, funny, M/M contemporary romance. She’s constantly amused by the antics of her two ginger cats, considers daydreaming about future trips to Scotland a part-time job, and is obsessed with Schitt’s Creek to an alarming degree.

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.

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.

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.

Piper Malone

Piper Malone is an award-winning author of sweet and sexy romance.

Dog lover. Reader. Foodie. Coffee, please.

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.

BL Maxwell writes MM Paranormal, Contemporary, Thriller, and Paranormal Fantasy.

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.

About Gabbi Grey’s novella inside Love is All: Big Sky Boyfriend…

Wyatt

I’m living comfortably on my family farm in Mission City, British Columbia, when the man who broke my heart fifteen years ago waltzes back into my life.  I’ve told myself I’m over Tate, but one look at the grown man has me rethinking my anger with him.  Except Tate’s hiding something, something that shadows his eyes and makes him back away from my attempts to get closer.  If he won’t come clean with me, do we even stand a chance?

Tate

I blew town at eighteen, wanting to be as far away from our small town as possible. I started in Canada’s largest city and soon moved to London. I lived a high life in finance until it all came crashing down.  When I came back to Canada, with my tail tucked between my legs, I promptly dove into a horrible relationship. Now I’m back to living in my parents’ basement and pining over the man whose heart I broke all those years ago. Pathetic, right?  If Wyatt won’t forgive me, what’s the point of trying to move forward?

Big Sky Boyfriend is a 24k word gay romance second-chance novella with a small-town farm boy, a big-city fancy boy, and a puppy named Winnie.

UPDATE: The winner is…Ellen Wulf!
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I know… Silver Soldiers released less than a month ago (and I hope you’ve all read it!), but it’s time for me to think about the next one because these things take time to pull together.

Last week, I asked for you all to offer up ideas for the theme for the next volume of sexy Boys Behaving Badly short stories. Below, I have a poll with some of those ideas listed. I’m not married to any of them, although some already have ideas percolating in my head…

I need themes that authors can take and run with. Themes that are broad enough that authors won’t be writing the same stories—meaning, something that would lend itself to different genres (contemporary, historical, sci-fi, paranormal) and settings (earthly places, outer space).

Not only do I need to appeal to readers, but I also have to attract writers to the project. So, help me out as I consider which themes will intrigue both readers and writers.

The Poll

Vote for your favorite themes. You can choose up to three. For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, let me know which appealed the most and if you can “see” possible stories! Also, if there’s a theme not mentioned here, but that you think might work, tell me about it!

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UPDATE: The winner is…Eileen Airey!
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Tomorrow, I’m going to post a poll as I try to narrow down possible themes for my next Boys Behaving Badly Anthology. I still have an open contest where you can add a theme for me to think about here: https://www.delilahdevlin.com/blog/2023/05/30/contest-help-me-find-my-next-boys-behaving-badly-theme/

So, if you have any more ideas add them to that post or add them here. I need your ideas and to know your preferences. The puzzle is for your enjoyment, and maybe you can think about themes we hadn’t considered while you play! Comment for a chance to win a $5 Amazon GC!

UPDATE: The winner is…Laura!
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The past month, since the release of the latest Boys Behaving Badly collection, has been a whirlwind of activities! Today, I posted the last in the series of “In One Picture” blogs, so if you want to see inside the authors’ minds and want a chance to win prizes, head on over to the Delilah’s Collections website to check them out!

But back to today’s challenge. I have to start thinking about what I want to do next. Plus, I want to know what readers want to read and what authors would love to do next. So…

Below are the covers for the seven BBB anthologies we’ve already published. All are nice sized volumes of multiple sexy short stories, offered for only $0.99 each (for the eBook versions, anyway) and written by some authors you know and some you get to read for the first time. You can see we’ve already had a variety of themes from naughty rogues, blue collar hotties, pirates, heroes coming to the rescue, first responders, cowboys, and silver fox ex-military types. What would you like to see us do next?

For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, tell me what you’d love to read or write! This will start me thinking, and later I’ll do a poll to try to narrow down the options. For now, throw out some ideas!