Serena Yates's Blog, page 2

There are as many reasons for celebrating December as I suspect there are to ignore the whole thing. Some of us celebrate winter holidays of a religious nature, some decide to go for the "end of year" variation. Whatever your reason, I am offering a chance for you two win one of two prizes (winner's choice).

Bear with me, while I explain.

I have two Christmas books in my collection, both of which you may be familiar with. If not: what are you waiting for? :-)


The Mistletoe Phenomenon This is the beginning of Magnus and Lance's story which takes them, and Magnus's nephew Jakob, from the fictional town of Mistletoe, Wyoming all the way to Sweden.


Prize Option 1: A print copy of the entire series, which contains all 3 novellas describing their adventures.




Araton's Destiny
This is the first book in my Celestial Justice series, featuring somewhat unusual and slightly irreverent angels as they battle 'middle management" in Heaven.


Prize Option 2: The e-book OR the print OR the audio book version of this fantasy novella.



All you need to do to participate is leave a comment, your choice of prize, and your e-mail here, or on RJ Scott's Christmas blog hop - which features a TON of prizes from a variety of authors. Check it out here: http://bit.ly/Sk9IsL. End of the giveaway is December 31, 2012 and the winner will be announced by January 5, 2013.


Good luck, and enjoy your December 2012 - for whatever reason.


Serena
www.serenayates.com

WHY: In celebration of our new book review site we’d like to invite all GLBTQ authors to join us as one of the blogs in our Follow the Rainbow Blog Hop.

WHEN: The hop will be for three days, Friday, August 24, 2012 from 12:00 am EST– Sunday, August 26, 2012 at 11:59 pm EST

WHAT: In order to maintain continuity, we’d appreciate each author to blog on the subject of ’What does writing GLBTQ literature mean to me?’

WHO: We hope that many of you will join in our excitement and help us celebrate.

HOW: If you’d like to participate, please email Serena Yates and Lena Grey at: [email protected]

Please include the following information: your name, name of your blog, and a link to your blog. The deadline for sign-up is Wednesday, August 22, 2012. Thank you!


GRAND PRIZES:

Rainbow Book Reviews will provide 4 Book Gift Vouchers (All Romance or Amazon) of $25.00 each and pick winners at random from comments on the Rainbow Book Reviews blog.

Several publishers have already promised prizes in the form of book vouchers and other goodies. They will show up on this blog as we receive updates.

We would love authors to also provide one or more prizes with the winner to be chosen from one of the comments made on authors’ blogs.

Garnets of Destiny 1

Out today, on August 4, 2012,this is the first book in a series called "Gemstone Chronicles". The series is based on an idea that has been with me for over 5 years, in fact some of these stories have existed as short novellas before, had been submitted and rejected back then. But the idea wouldn't let me go.

So, a few months ago I decided to tackle this "job" again and am very happy to say that the resulting first novel is far better (in my own humble opinion, of course) than the original version. The ideas have expanded to the extent that there is now a whole Garnet World and a few sequels to Zachary and Zohar's story are sure to follow.

This first book sets up the whole idea of the Gemstone Chronicles in a Prologue and Epilogue - together they are a separate storyline, like a frame that surrounds the individual stories. Within that frame, you then have Zachary and Zohar's adventure:

Zachary, abused for years by his adoptive parents, finally runs away. He knows he's safer on his own than in their so-called care. Homeless and desperate for money so he can put down a deposit for an apartment, he decides to sell the antique garnet ring his parents received from the mysterious Messenger at Zachary's birth.


I really hope you will like this book, and the ones that will follow over the next few months. You can find it at Silver Publishing as of today, and on third party sites as of next week, I believe.


Serena

I am celebrating my third anniversary today. Yes, Serena is now thee years old, LOL. My first book was published on this day in 2009: To Find and to Keep.






Thank you, Dreamspinner Press for giving me my breakthrough as an author. Thanks also to Silver Publishing and Total-E-Bound Publishing for helping me get more of my stories out there.

Thanks to all my fans and readers who buy my books and give me feedback on what my characters are up to.

It has been - and still is - a dream come true!!!

I am blogging about some of the thoughts and ideas that went into the creation of he Celestial Justice series today. Come check it out over at the All Male Romance Blog.

Fighting for Hope



Published today, on March 3, 2012 at Silver Publishing, Fighting for Hope is a very special book for me.

It was the very first full-length novel I ever finished - 5 years ago. I still remember the relief I felt when I typed 'The End' - I had atually done it, finshed a book. The frustration when I received rejection after rejection was depressing, but honestly? Now I am relieved no publisher took it on. It needed a lot of work!!!! Took me 5 years of writing experience to understad that, and I finally felt ready to tackle the rewrites late in 2011.

Now that Grayson and James will finally see the light of day I am beyond excited!!! Their story has been with me for a very long time - and so has the one about Grayson's best friend, Danny. Hi book will be next and is called Fighting for Love. :-)

I hope you will enjoy Fighting for Hope. Please check here for an excerpt.

The Cellar Hand



Out on Saturday, February 4, this is the newest volume in my Workplace Encounters series. It is not only available for pre-order at Silver Publishing, but has also been chosen as prize for the Silver Publishing eBook Friday Frenzy Giveaway.

If you're interested, all you need to do is enter your name, email address and answer a simple question (hint: the answer can be found in the blurb). Click here to enter the contest. Contest ends February 3 at 11:59 pm EST.

Good luck!!!!!

...I got word from Silver Publishing that my Christmas book from 2010, Araton's Destiny, will be available as audio book on December 10, 2011!!! Narrated by the incomparable J.P. Bowie, it is a true treat for anyone who loves m/m, hot angels grappling with the purpose of their existence, and those who want to close their eyes while following the developments of the first Celestial Justice book.

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What if you're a guardian angel and fail to do your job?

Araton has been a guardian angel for less than a century when a moment of distraction causes his human charge to be hit by a car. He expects to be punished - and is surprised to find out there is room for leniency - and even a new job. Will he be any better at being a Christmas angel?

Jake is a former pro-football player whose knee injury has prevented him from fulfilling a lifelong dream. He turns his attention to extreme sports instead. When he falls into an ice cave during a solitary trip just before Christmas he believes it is the end of the road for him. Nothing short of a miracle will save him...


Available for pre-order at Silver Publishing right now!!!

In the past few days, we have been privileged to witness an increasing awareness and understanding within the m/m romance community about the complex issues of gender/s and sexuality/ies.

This has been a significant and positive step forward in healing a rift caused primarily by ignorance and bringing hope where there was once anger, turmoil and devastation.

This is by no means an end, however.

For if there is one thing we have all learnt is that a rainbow cannot easily be grasped or defined.

Rainbows are constantly changing. Rainbows are not fixed. Even when an artist tries to portray them in a photograph or piece of work it is only one moment in time they are capturing, not the full journey of a rainbow.

It is this fluidity we need to embrace and encourage others to do so as well.

To this end, we are sending out a challenge.

A challenge to help us increase awareness, acceptance and support for the trans*, intersex, intergender and questioning people in the m/m romance community and broader community by adding this to your site:



We believe this will stand hard as a sign post symbolising hope as well as a safe space for GLBTQQ people to freely be themselves. Whoever 'they' might be at that particular moment and whoever 'they' might be in different moments in the future.

So, will you accept our challenge?

Perhaps this excerpt from an interview in September 2011 between genderfluid Andrej Pejic and ABC’s Nightline Juju Chang will help you make a decision:

Chang: When you see yourself in the mirror, do you think of yourself more as a man or as a woman?
Pejic: I like to keep my options open.
Chang: What does that mean?
Pejic: I see myself.

‘I see myself.’

That, friends, says it all.

Please help us spread this message.

With hope and love, Aleksandr Voinov, Amara Devonte and Kris for 'embrace the rainbow'.


[Reposted to support the 'embrace the rainbow' campaign.]

Sam's New Family


Today, on September 17, I am proud to announce the release of Sam's New Family, a short story I wrote for the annual Torquere Charity Sip Blitz. All the proceeds will be donated to the It Gets Better Project, matched by Torquere Press. Rainbow eBooks have agreed to sponsor the sale on their site, without taking profits.

I'm very excited to take part in this - what better reason for writing a book for charity can there be than knowing its sale will help improve the lives of GLBT youths, who so often have to suffer injustice and even physical deprivation and pain - just because they are deeemed 'different'? Although, what is that different about wanting to love and share your life with another human being, just becaue they happen to be the same sex, still escapes me.

Please check out the entire series on your preferred site - and remember, every book from the collection you buy will help make someone's life a little better.