Raine O'Tierney: May 2015

My tenth release! @__@ I can hardly wrap my mind around that. People have said, "WOW, you write really fast!" and I think I do write at a somewhat speedy pace...but really, when you write in secret for ten years, hoarding all your stories for yourself, it's easy to polish them up and put them out one right after other.

All That Shimmers does hold a very special place in my heart. (I know, I know...everyone says that about every book) but it really does. I'd asked the girls (Cate Ashwood and L.J. LaBarthe) if they wanted to do an anthology together. They enthusiastically agreed and together we came up with the theme of "Healing."

I needed that in my life, healing.

I chose to write about two very broken characters-- Beau, paralyzed from the waist down, and Niksa-- beyond suicidal. It was a struggle sometimes, especially dealing with Niksa's darkness which mirrors some of my own--but worth it.

So far the reviews have been mixed. Some people are really moved by what I wanted to accomplish, reduced to tears even, and some people think it's total drivel or far too dark. For some reason the reviews have hit me a bit hard on this one, probably because of how much of myself I put into this story. That said--I do appreciate the people who took the time to read and review. (Yes, even the 1*s) ;) I've even had a couple of peeps ask about a sequel.

I'm always like *mind blown* when someone likes something I wrote enough to ask me about a sequel.

If you check it out, let me know what you think--good, bad, or indifferent!

--Raine

Release Date: May 6th, 2015

Goodreads Links: All That Shimmers | Piece Us Back Together |

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press

Cover Artist: Paul Richmond

Blurb(s):

Piece Us Back Together:

Life can seem bleak for people suffering devastating injuries or illnesses of the mind and body, and every day can be a struggle. But sometimes, when hope seems in short supply, they find a reason to keep up the fight. The men in these stories face some of the most difficult challenges imaginable, but fortunately they won’t be facing them alone, because when everything seems darkest, a point of light appears. With compassion, understanding, and love, these hurt souls have a chance to piece the broken parts of their lives and themselves into something strong and beautiful. Love might even be able to mend the most serious wounds of all—those of the heart.

All That Shimmers by Raine O’Tierney

Beau Bell is a former Olympic hopeful, left paralyzed from the waist down after a car accident. He has every reason in the world to be pissed off and miserable, yet he’s training for the Paralympics Men's 100m—S6 division. The chair? Just a part of who he is now. Beau's attitude is golden. If only he could contend with this one little issue: errant erections and no way to relieve them!

Nikša Meríc is a lonely scientist and really bad poet living underneath the old building where he does his research. Every night he watches his neighbor through his basement window as he undresses in his wheelchair. Although there is no apparent reason for Nikša to be unhappy, he’s struggled with depression his whole life and has tried to kill himself on multiple occasions.

When Beau proposes that his “voyeur” come over and help him experiment with the erections he can’t actually feel, the relationship they build is a sexual one. But the relationship they need is one that will heal each other’s heart as well.

Available May 6^th, 2015

Categories: Contemporary, Fiction, Gay Fiction, M/M Romance, Romance

Sales Links:

Piece Us Back Together Anthology:

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=6413

All That Shimmers:

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=6340

It has been such a blast doing this tour with Debbie McGowan for our Leaving Flowers release that I...er...sort of forgot to announce on my own blog that the book had come out!

Um, well, the book is out! ^_^

And if you'd like to follow along with the tour and enter for your chance to win a $20.00 Amazon.com giftcard, all the links are available below.

~ ~ ~

Author Name: Debbie McGowan & Raine O’Tierney

Book Name: Leaving Flowers

Release Date: May 1, 2015

Pages or Words: 67,000 words

Categories: Contemporary, Fiction, Gay Fiction, M/M Romance, Romance

Goodreads

Publisher: Beaten Track Publishing

Cover Artist: Debbie McGowan

Blurb(s):

Shy and awkward since childhood, Aidan Degas is now a man lost. His twin—Aidan’s other half, Nadia—died tragically young, leaving him with nothing to get him through his days but his job at the prestigious Grand Heights Luxury Apartments and the flowers he lays upon her grave. When Aidan is assaulted on the job by a tenant, it’s the graveyard he turns to for strength and solace.

Patrick loves being assistant groundskeeper at the sprawling cemetery where he tends graves and offers a bit of comfort to mourners. When he sees a sad young man lingering over an old grave, his curiosity is strangely piqued for reasons he doesn’t understand. He’s never done this—struck up a friendship with a mourner. But soon that friendship blossoms into a romance.

It’s not going to be easy for the pair. Aidan is so damaged, like petals crushed in an angry fist, and even with Patrick’s warm heart and Irish charm, it might not be enough to bring him back from the edge.

Excerpt:

Somehow, in spite of the need to go home and shower off the grottiness of digging earth for half a day, Patrick didn’t feel he could take his usual subtle approach. Nadia’s passing was not recent; her grave was not new; yet here was this young man, kneeling at her feet, his eyes closed, hands resting in his lap, oblivious to the sun’s slide from the sky, the increasing briskness of the breeze, Patrick’s presence…

“Hello there,” he said quietly, stopping on the path a few feet away. The man was too far into his own mind to startle. Instead, he slowly came to, his shoulders lifting slightly as he twisted to see what had disturbed his meditation. Patrick smiled. “I’m afraid we’re locking up for the evening.”

“So soon?”

“It’s going on for seven o’clock, sir.”

“Seven…” The man’s voice petered away, his expression indicating he had no idea how long he had been kneeling there. If he doubted Patrick’s word, the confirmation came when the man tried to stand, and staggered, numb-legged. He automatically reached out to steady himself, catching hold of the front of Patrick’s coveralls, and then almost collapsed again, unable to bear his own weight.

Without a second thought, Patrick quickly grasped the man by the forearms to steady him. “There’s no rush now. You just take your time. All right?”

The man nodded and swallowed hard. “Thank you. I only came to leave the tulips.” He gestured toward the vase of closed tulips in front of the grave and in the midst of the red and white carnations.

Patrick kept his hold on the man and looked down at the flowers. “They’re beautiful,” he said. “Really lovely.”

“Thanks. Nadia loved flowers so much.” A glimmer of a happier time lit up the man’s features for just a second, before it was blotted out once more by the heavy cloud of sorrow.

Patrick felt that sorrow in his heart. He wanted to offer comfort, warmth, security, to soothe with his touch, his kiss… Oh my—no, no, Patrick. You’re way over the line. You’re standing at the grave of this man’s wife, and all you can think of is kissing him? But it wasn’t that sort of kiss he had in mind. It wasn’t about passion, or lust; just a desperate desire to take away the pain.

The man seemed a little more steady on his feet and Patrick gently released him. “OK now?”

“I think so.” He took a long, deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Thank you for your patience. I’m sure you’re eager to go home. It can’t be fun working here.”

Patrick shrugged and smiled. “I love my job. Fresh air, peace and quiet—”

“But it’s a cemetery.”

“Well, yeah,” Patrick said, the slightest hint of a chuckle in his words. It was enough to prompt the other man to lift his head. For the first time, his eyes met Patrick’s, and something bloomed inside, a heat radiating from somewhere he couldn’t quite pinpoint. It rose up through his chest, into his throat, filling his mouth and his nose, as he gazed into those incredible steel-gray eyes. There was so much pain there, and loss—anger—and yet there was more, so much more, that Patrick could almost hear the emotion, like a distant cry for help from someone who was drowning.

About the authors:

DEBBIE MCGOWAN is an author and publisher based in a semi-rural corner of Lancashire, England. She writes character-driven, realist fiction, celebrating life, love and relationships. A working class girl, she ‘ran away’ to London at 17, was homeless, unemployed and then homeless again, interspersed with animal rights activism (all legal, honest ;)) and volunteer work as a mental health advocate. At 25, she went back to college to study social science— tough with two toddlers, but they had a ‘stay at home’ dad, so it worked itself out. These days, the toddlers are young women (much to their chagrin), and Debbie teaches undergraduate students, writes novels and runs an independent publishing company, occasionally grabbing an hour of sleep where she can!

Twitter: https://twitter.com/writerdebmcg
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DebbieMcGowanAuthor and http://www.facebook.com/beatentrackpublishing
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/deb248211
Tumblr: http://writerdebmcg.tumblr.com
LinkedIn: http://uk.linkedin.com/in/writerdebmcg
Google+: https://plus.google.com/+DebbieMcGowan
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4401329.Debbie_McGowan
Website: http://www.debbiemcgowan.co.uk

RAINE O’TIERNEY lives outside of Kansas City with her husband, fellow author, Siôn O'Tierney. When she's not writing, she's either playing video games or fighting the good fight for intellectual freedom at her library day job. Raine believes the best thing we can do in life is be kind to one another, and she enjoys encouraging fellow writers! Writing for 20+ years (with the last 10 spent on gay romance) Raine changes sub-genres to suit her mood and believes all good stories end sweetly. Contact her if you're interested in talking about point-and-click adventure games or about which dachshunds are the best kinds of dachshunds!

Homepage: Raineotierney.com

LGBT Author Interviews: http://raineotierneyhatparty.blogspot.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RaineOTierneyAuthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RaineOTierney

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7770350.Raine_O_Tierney

Tour Dates & Stops:

1-May

4-May