*Disclosure: I received the following product(s) below from the Author in exchange for an honest review and in no way was I asked to give a positive review. I received no compensation for this publication. My opinions are my own and may differ from those of your own. This disclosure is in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.
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Blurb:
Everett
Kinkade is a world-famous professional wrestler and the sexy heartthrob of
millions of adoring female fans. But Ev has a secret he doesn’t dare share with
anyone. He’s gay.
After
years of being Ev’s secret lover, Josh is tired of hiding in the shadows and
wants Ev to openly acknowledge their relationship. Coming out is the last thing
Ev wants and fears it will ruin his career.
One
night in a moment of truth, Everett outs himself on live TV. There’s no going
back, and his announcement sparks a firestorm of problems – both personally and
professionally. He’s forced to come to grips with who he really is while facing
down a tag team out to destroy him.
Torn
between living a lie and losing the man he loves, Ev has risked everything… can
he find a balance between his career and his heart?
Title: A Secret Match
Author: Kelli A. Wilkins
Publisher: Amber Quill Press/Amber Allure
Release date: August 31, 2014
Genre: contemporary gay
Heat Level: 3
Approximate page count: 160/45,000 words
Author: Kelli A. Wilkins
Publisher: Amber Quill Press/Amber Allure
Release date: August 31, 2014
Genre: contemporary gay
Heat Level: 3
Approximate page count: 160/45,000 words
Coming soon to Amazon and B&N in e-book and paperback!
Guest Post:
By
Romance Author Kelli A. Wilkins
Hi everyone,
My name is Kelli Wilkins and I write
romances. My books cover nearly every genre and vary in heat level from mild to
super-spicy. People have different reactions when they learn what I write. (Usually
they gasp and pretend to be horrified, and then ask me if I “act out” my love
scenes at home!)
But when people find out that I
write gay romances—that really gets
them going! “Why would you write one of those? You’re not a man or gay.” (Here’s
my turn to gasp and act surprised. Really? You’re kidding!) I generally respond
with: “Why shouldn’t I write gay romances? I wrote a vampire romance, and I’ve
never been a vampire.” (That usually quiets people down for a while.)
I get a lot of questions about “why”
or “how” I can write a gay romance. Here are the top four, along with my
answers.
You’ve
written lots of straight romances. Why write gay romances?
Why not? I’m a writer. And, as I
writer, I write whatever romance book comes to me, whether it’s a contemporary,
historical, paranormal, or gay romance. My stories are about people who meet,
fall in love, and overcome their obstacles to be with each other. This basic
philosophy applies whether the characters are same-sex, different sex, or space
alien and earth girl. Love is love and romance is romance. I’m not married to
one specific genre or heat level. I go where the story and the characters take
me.
My third gay romance, A
Secret Match came out on August 31, 2014. (The other two are Four
Days with Jack and Killer in Wolf’s Clothing), but I
didn’t just “jump in” to writing M/M stories. The first same-sex (F/F) encounter
I wrote appeared briefly (as part of a ménage experience) in Dalton’s
Temptation. I went with it because it fit the characters and the
storyline. The same thing happened in my erotic historical, A
Midsummer Night’s Delights. I didn’t know that Julian or his wife had
same-sex fantasies until I started writing. (Characters sometimes like to
surprise us writers!) I trusted my instincts and wrote the story that was in my
head. (That book has plenty of m/m and ménage scenes, and I wrote two sequels
that are even hotter, A Midwinter Night’s Delights and Ultimate
Night’s Delights.)
How
do you write the gay love scenes?
I approach a same-sex love scene the
same way I would if I was writing about a hetero couple. When I write a
straight romance, about half of the scenes are written from a male point of
view. So I have experience “thinking” about scenes from a male perspective
anyway. He thinks about the girl he loves, fantasizes about making love to her,
they kiss and touch, and…there’s no difference in writing a story from two male
points of view. Writing a love scene isn’t about the gender or the anatomy of
the characters—it’s about creating a believable, intimate scene where two
people express their love for each other.
What’s
the hardest part about writing a gay romance?
The answer to this is quite
surprising, and no, it has nothing to do with bedroom activities! The hardest
part about writing a same-sex romance or love scene is: pronouns! Yes, nasty
thing, grammar! As I’m writing, I’ll dash off something like “He ran his hand
down his chest and….” Wait, what? He ran his own hand down his own chest? No! I
have to pay extra close attention when revising or editing a same-sex scene.
Too many “his” references and we don’t know who is doing what. Better to say:
“He ran his hand down Kevin’s chest and...”
Are
you concerned about “what people will think” about you writing gay romances?
Not in the least. People will think
whatever they want. If readers are “turned off” to me as an author because I
write gay romances… well, that’s too bad, see ya. I even
explored the “what would people think” theme in A Secret Match and showed
how Everett overcame his concerns.
When I wrote my first gay romance, Four
Days with Jack, I considered “what people
would think” about the book and me writing it—for about three seconds. Then I
reminded myself that I’m a writer, and I create the characters and scenes that
make up the book. Basically, the story needs to be told, and I’m the one
telling it. I’ve made up all sorts of things: an erotic Bigfoot story, a
historical Viking tale, detailed ménage scenes (in all combinations), and a
first-person vampire love story.
Writers need to turn off
their internal editors and forge ahead with the story as it should be (and
needs to be) told. If we constantly worried about what grandma would think
about our writing, or if we were afraid to open up and let the characters (and the
story) take us into the bedroom, we’d never write anything except G-rated
fables.
Recently I read a blog
where a woman was “confessing” to writing an erotic romance, even though she
couldn’t tell anyone about it and wouldn’t “dare” put her real name on the
story. I got to wondering…why? Why hide your writing? And if you’re “ashamed”
to be writing in a particular genre, why invest the time and energy into
something you’re not going to stand behind?
I’m
just as proud of my gay romances as I am of my straight romances. Why? Because I’m a romance writer—and in my books, everyone
deserves to be in love and live happily-ever-after.
Happy Reading!
Kelli
A. Wilkins
ABOUT KELLI A. WILKINS
Kelli A. Wilkins is an award-winning author
who has published more than 90 short stories, 18 romance novels, and 4
non-fiction books. Her romances span many genres and heat levels. Her third gay
romance, A Secret Match, was published on August 31. It is available in
ebook and paperback formats. Read more about it here: http://www.amberquill.com/store/p/2022-A-Secret-Match.aspx
Kelli publishes a blog: (http://kelliwilkinsauthor.blogspot.com) filled with
excerpts, interviews, writing prompts, and whatever else pops into her head.
She also writes a monthly newsletter, Kelli's
Quill, and posts on Facebook and Twitter. Kelli invites readers to visit
her website, http://www.KelliWilkins.com to learn more
about all of her writings.
Catch
up with Kelli on the Web:
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