Book recommendations

Have you finished your Christmas shopping yet? If the answer is no and you have someone who loves to read gay romance I have a couple of suggestions for you. Or for yourself, if you need a break from all the hectic preparations. I know I do. It’s hard work flying to Sweden, hugging my darling daughter, and anxiously awaiting the Christmas feast at my parents’ house 😀

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Happy Merry Christmas by Amy Tasukada

If you’re in the mood for something super cute with adorable characters, Japanese Christmas traditions and one of the most interesting jobs of all times this is the book for you. Aoi is an erotic voice actor, moaning for a living. How great is that? And did you know they eat KFC in Japan on Christmas?

It’s released today. Buy it, you won’t regret it.

(This is the print cover, and not the e-book cover, but I think it’s so much cuter than the e-book one so that’s why I’m showing you this one instead.) 

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To Love and To Cherish by Addison Albright
If you want a break from all Christmas preparations and want to read about interesting character growth and fabulous intimate moments between two people finding their way to each other, I recommend this one. You probably recognize it, I’ve written about it before, but it’s definitely worth mentioning again.

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That’s all for today. Have a great Saturday!

Beware of polar bears!

Tomorrow I’m jumping on a flying tin can going from one side of the earth to the other, eating bad food and trying to make myself comfortable enough in a tiny chair so that I can get some sleep that will be interrupted by smiling people asking if I want the terrible food or not.

I.e: I’m flying home to Sweden for Christmas.

This means I’m going from approximately 90 degrees in Kuala Lumpur to 20 degrees (If I’m lucky) or ZERO degrees (if I’m really unlucky). I will probably freeze my behind off and have to fight off polar bears on the streets.

Nah, just kidding. We don’t have polar bears in Sweden.

So this’ll be me for the next two weeks. (Just kidding, we don’t have penguins in Sweden either.)

I’ll be back in Kuala Lumpur on New Years Eve, spending a couple days thawing from frozen solid and when I’m warm and cozy again I’ll go back to being a writer. For the next two weeks I’ll be a mother, a daughter, a friend and a daughter-in-law, hanging out with all the people I love.

Oh, and if you have suggestions for great Christmas MM romances that would be suitable to read on a plan, let me know in the comments and I’ll be sure to download them 🙂

Cause for celebration

Last Monday I wrote a blog post saying I’d changed the name of my short story, but I didn’t tell you why. I was very vague, and in general I hate vague blog posts. So, I thought I’d make it up to you and tell you today.

But first, a picture:

This, my friends, is champagne. To celebrate that I sent my short story to a publisher and they accepted it. I’m going to be published.

*taking a short happy-dancing break*

I’d had an idea for a story for a while, but thought I’d wait and finish what I was doing first before writing it. But then I saw this submission call and it fit my idea perfectly. And I could no longer resist so I sat down and wrote it.

After two rounds of betas and lots of editing from my part, I finally sent it to the publisher and boy, was that scary!! But just hours after my submission they got back to me and said they wanted to publish it. The problem was they already had a story with a similar name and they asked if I would consider changing it.

I thought about it. I liked the existing name because it reflected the story, but after mulling it over for a while I came up with something that worked equally well for me. And the publisher had no objections to the new name.

And just like that, Just the Way You Are became Unconditionally. I really like the new name, maybe even more than the old one..

It will be published some time in March. Details will follow, of course.

So there you have it, the reason for the name change. Wasn’t it the best reason ever? 🙂

The power of words

I read an amazing article today and if you are a lover of books and stories I really think you should read it.

Here’s the link to the complete article. Make sure you have a box of tissues handy, you’re gonna need them.

Can you imagine how J.K Rowling must have felt when she learned about that little girl and the effect her words had had on her life? If that would have been me I would have broken down completely—I’m a mess after just reading about it. I have so many feelings I have a hard time articulating them, but I’ll try.

I guess I’ve always known that stories can change people’s lives. After all, I am a writer and I live and breathe stories. My own and others’. And books and stories have always been an important part of my life.

My mom was very sick when I was little and wasn’t able to play with me or keep up with an energetic kid. She taught me how to read long before I even started school to keep me occupied.

I remember how I felt the first time I read a book out loud to my mother. The book was Flap your wings by P.D Eastman and she listened intently to me as I slowly got through it. Afterward, I felt like I had conquered the world and my love of the written word—and books—was born in that moment.

I know my story isn’t anywhere near as dramatic as little Juniper’s in the article, but they’re both important. Books and stories are a necessity of life, this article is the proof of that.

Article 26 of The Declaration of Human Rights starts with Everyone has the right to education. By teaching children how to read and write, we change their lives. We change the world.

Which is why I’m donating to the Swedish branch of Plan International and a project called Teach a girl to read. Because what if that particular girl grows up to be the next J.K Rowling, who writes words with the power to save children? Or if being able to read gives her a greater sense of worth and the ability to stand up for herself and others?

 That would be worth all the money in the world.

Life lesson and name change

Today’s life lesson: never start a book in the middle of the night, thinking I’ll only read one chapter to see if this book is any good, and then I’ll put it down. 

Have you ever managed to do that? I haven’t. (Unless it’s a really crappy book!)

I found a suitable meme to illustrate. I tweaked it a little to reflect my reality 🙂

I was completely spellbound by the book when I suddenly heard the morning prayer outside my window (I live in a Muslim country). I looked up from my tablet, blinked and wondered if they’d started with late night prayers without me noticing before, but as I checked the time it was 05:45 AM.

And as the responsible adult I am, I immediately stopped reading and put my tablet down read another chapter before forcing myself to go to sleep.

Let’s just say that I need a coffee IV drip to function today, and leave it at that.

If you’re curious, it was Flying without a net by E.M Ben Shaul that kept me up all night. It was a fabulous book and I couldn’t put it down. I loved the characters and I love when people communicate in books, avoiding stupid misunderstandings. Recommended!

Anyway. I try to write something about my writing on Mondays and today is no exception. It will be short and sweet though, so don’t blink or you might miss it 😉

I’ve renamed my short story. It’s now called Unconditionally instead of Just the Way You Are, because of reasons. I’m sorry to be vague, but the reasons will be revealed soon, I promise.

And now, if you excuse me, I need to go change my IV bag. *yawn*