Author: Ofelia Gränd

Wrap-Up Wednesday | April

~ Ofelia Gränd ~ 2 Comments

The ‘Write a Wrap-Up Wednesday post’ came up on my To-Do, and I thought to myself that I haven’t read much this month, but checking my notes, I realised I’ve read a few stories.

Day Job

Day Job by Domashita Romero – Louis is seeing things, has always been seeing things, so when the new guy – Gabriel – starts at his work, he knows he’s a demon. Or he thinks…no he knows. It’s right there in the strange eyes and the tailed shadow.

He tries to expose him, but it’s not going very well, and then one day at a super boring meeting, Gabriel sneezes on Louis – so pre-covid LOL – and things get complicated.

This have no cover and no blurb, but you can read it for free here.

Sympathy for the Devil

Sympathy for the Devil by RoughDraftHero – Sedated alien in a glass box (made me want to write an alien Snow White story LOL) and Milton’s job is to watch him and give him a dose of sedatives at midnight every night. When he notices the alien reacts to sounds, he starts playing music and reads out loud, but that only gets him transferred to another department. The last night he’s working, he ‘forgets’ to give the alien his dose of sedatives…

18374021Milton is a low-level employee for the government. All night, he watches over the most prized-possession of the secret laboratory he works in, hoping one day he would be able to see its eyes. However, he finds out something shocking about the subject he’s been monitoring, and starts to feel a small flicker of guilt.

That was probably his first mistake.

books2read.com/Sympathy-for-the-Devil

Hot Coffee & Terrible First Dates 

Hot Coffee & Terrible First Dates by K.P. Maxwell – Cute short story about a dog shifter and an owl shifter going on a blind date. Charlie knocks over his cup of coffee and it all falls in Derrick’s lap. It’s adorable and funny. Epithets, though…

56487174._sy475_First date. Hot coffee. What could possibly go wrong?

Derrick’s not really into dating, so when his coworker sets him up on a new app that promises to match him with another shifter, he’s ready to delete the profile and be done with it. He didn’t expect to get matched with the adorable, nerdy guy on the other side of the screen. When curiosity gets the best of him and he decides to meet the man at Café Seuil in Southeast Portland, will hot coffee and the cold, snowy weather make him give up on dating altogether? Or could this be the start of something wonderful?

Hot Coffee & Terrible First Dates is a short and sweet 5,500 word M/M paranormal story set in the same world as KP Maxwell’s Men of Café Seuil novels.

Download for free: books2read.com/HorCoffeeAndTerribleFirstDates

 

The Frog in the Room

The Frog in the Room by Jade Buchanan – Eh… Picked it up because the blurb said frog shifter, and I thought I could do with some therapy. It’s very short and there isn’t much plot, if any, to speak of. Tom works in a toy store and takes a toy frog with him in his car on his way home. He has an accident and ends up in an alternate world with a horny frog shifter.

27844386._sx318_Thomas Adler is a stickler for neatness. When his ordered life goes completely to the frogs, what’s a man to do? Grab hold of the closest frog shifter and hang on for dear life, of course!

books2read.com/TheFrogintheRoom

Beneath the Neon Moon

Beneath the Neon Moon by Theda Black – Two men chained up in a basement. One had one too many to drink the night before the other was attacked by a huge dog…or was it a wolf? I enjoyed this! Dark and evil. My only wish is that I would’ve wanted a confrontation at the end, but after some snooping around on the author’s website, I realised this is a series, so maybe that will come in the next book.

Beneath the neon moonZach and Mal have never met, but one summer night finds them in desperate trouble together, kidnapped and trapped in darkness. The moon’s rising high and full in the sky when Zach notices something’s changing in Mal, growing volatile and wild. And no matter how quickly the bond between them grows, Zach’s afraid he won’t survive the night.

Download for free: books2read.com/BeneaththeNeonMoon

Growl4Me

Growl4Me by Haylee Wolf – A dating app for shifters! It was the title, I admit. I don’t know when I picked it up, but I remember seeing the title and thinking it sounded fun. I do like me a shifter story or five, and this was all right, but it could’ve done with some editing. I’m terrible when it comes to spotting typos, but here were so many even I couldn’t miss them. Still, a cute alpha omega story.

Growl4MeWarren Kelly’s dream is simple. He wants to find a mate who’ll accept him for who he is. But it’s not that easy. Warren isn’t like most Omegas. His ordinary looks and quirks put off most dominant wolves. Signing up on the social network app Growl4Me will change his life…except Warren attracts the wrong kind of attention.

Inked, scarred and huge—Noble is a lone Alpha who has no trouble getting whatever and whoever he wants. But something’s missing in Noble’s life and that’s a mate. Warren claims they’re too different, that they’ll never work out. But Noble craves no one but his sexy pie baking and cat owning shy Omega. Noble doesn’t take ‘no’ for an answer and he’ll do everything to make Warren understand who he rightfully belongs to.

books2read.com/Growl4Me

Chapter Five and the Axe-Wielding Maniac

Chapter Five and the Axe-Wielding Maniac by Marie Sexton – It was the title that made me read it! It’s a short, cute, quick read about an author in a slump who one morning comes eye to eye with an axe-wielding maniac. The maniac wants to break his living room floor open. It’s cute!

Chapter five and the axe-wielding maniacAuthor Joshua Franklin Hill has a bad case of writer’s block. When an axe-wielding maniac knocks on his front door and asks to dig up his living room floor, he figures his Monday from hell is complete.

But an axe-wielding maniac may be just what Josh needs.

Download for free: books2read.com/ChapterFive

 

Too Stupid to Live

Too Stupid to Live (Romancelandia 1) by Anne Tenino – I was writing a blog post about funny books, and ended up re-reading this. Sam makes me laugh. He’s obsessed with romance books, and he wants himself a highlander, and he finds him! A football to the head, and when Sam comes too, there he is. The highlander turns him down, though…at first, at least LOL

Too Stupid to LiveIt isn’t true love until someone gets hurt.

Sam’s a new man. Yes, he’s still too tall, too skinny, too dorky, too gay, and has that unfortunate addiction to romance novels, but he’s wised up. His One True Love is certainly still out there, but he knows now that real life is nothing like fiction. He’s cultivated the necessary fortitude to say “no” to the next Mr. Wrong, no matter how hot, exciting, and/or erotic-novel-worthy he may be.

Until he meets Ian.

Ian’s a new man. He’s pain-free, has escaped the job he hated and the family who stifled him, and is now—possibly—ready to dip his toe into the sea of relationships. He’s going to be cautious, though, maybe start with someone who knows the score and isn’t looking for anything too complicated. Someone with experience and simple needs that largely revolve around the bedroom.

Until he meets Sam.

Sam’s convinced that Ian is no one’s Mr. Right. Ian’s sure that Sam isn’t his type. They can’t both be wrong . . . can they?

books2read.com/TooStupidToLive

Touch Me Not

Touch Me Not by Genna Donaghy – This is also a re-read. It’s an alternative universe where everyone is either dominant or submissive, and you have true mates. Jake is a sub, but he doesn’t want a dominant in his life. All he wants is to run his farm as he sees fit. But… there’s a strange man in town, and he touches Jake.

Touch Me NotIn an alternate universe, where gender is less important than how dominant a person is, Jake Alric is the odd man out. While other subs spend their days trying to find their one true mate, Jake goes out of his way to avoid dominants. He’s seen the dark side of soul bonds, and all he wants is to be left alone to tend his small Montana cattle ranch in peace.

When an oil company starts buying up land all around town, Jake comes under increasing pressure to sell. A chance encounter brings him into contact with one of his potential mates, Henry Waterstone, son of the man trying to buy Jake’s ranch and a handsome dominant who pushes buttons Jake didn’t know he had. For the first time Jake is tempted by the true pleasure of being a submissive. But as Jake and Henry grow closer, a new player in the oil company rises up and threatens to sever their fragile connection. Suddenly the person Jake was most afraid to find becomes the one he’s most terrified to lose.

books2read.com/TouchMeNot

Cover Reveal | Aiden and Tristan

~ Ofelia Gränd ~ 1 Comment

Cover-Reveal

Are you ready to see another cover? There will be a few in the near future…more than a few. We have some intense publishing ahead LOL

Since I’ve decided to turn my old Nortown into Up North stories, I wanted them all to be able to be read as stand-alones. From the beginning that’s been my goal with the Up North books, so we’ve lumped all Aiden and Tristan stories together into one.

Aiden and Tristan includes:

Once in a Snowstorm
The Empty Egg
Happy Endings
Just Words

All in all, we end up with about 46k of Aiden and Tristan shenanigans. I always meant to write one more shorty where Tristan proposed to Aiden, but I’m not good at wedding stuff and now it’s gone so long since I wrote them, so I’m no longer in their heads if that makes sense.

Aiden and Tristan are more cliché than the other couples in the Up North stories. It’s babbly city guy vs grumpy lumberjack. There is size difference, age difference, sensible clothing vs designer clothes, and I included lines like ‘Oh, so responsive’ and other fine sentences you only find in a certain kind of stories LOL

I had so much fun writing these stories, and I know it sometimes sounds as if I’m putting them down, but Aiden and Tristan are characters who are very dear to me.

Are you ready to see the cover?!?

aidenandtristan

Blurb:

Daring a snowstorm might not be the smartest thing Aiden Evans has ever done, but he can’t stand being in his flat a moment longer. With only three days to Christmas, he doesn’t want to be alone. He wants a place to belong, wants people around him who won’t look down on him. He might not find that at his mother’s place, but it’s better than being alone in the city. If he can make it there, that is. 

Tristan Gardner is looking forward to a quiet night in front of the TV, but instead, he has to save an idiot in designer clothes from freezing to death in his forest. Tristan tries not to notice the man’s good looks, just like he has tried not to notice any man’s good looks for the last seven years. He knows where relationships go and is far better off living alone, with his dog, in his cabin. 

Aiden is driving Tristan mad with his bratty comments and irresponsible ways, and Aiden is going crazy from Tristan’s judgmental attitude. Luckily, in a few days, the weather will clear up, and the two men won’t have to be together any longer. But will a few steamy nights with the grumpy lumberjack change Aiden’s mind about wanting to leave? And will Tristan still want to go back to his peaceful, predictable life without fear of getting his heart broken? 

Note: This book contains Once in a Snowstorm, The Empty Egg, Happy Endings, and Just Words 

Release day: May 22

What the Heck Do Authors Do?

~ Ofelia Gränd ~ 2 Comments

Pen

Have you ever wondered what an author does all day? This is not meant to be a post where I’m whining – I love what I do – but I often have the feeling a general reader doesn’t have a clue how much time and effort we put into everything.

I am so in awe of all the authors out there who do what I do while working full time. I only work part-time and there simply aren’t enough hours in a day to be on top of everything. All you writers out there who make this work on top of a day job, I applaud you. You are amazing!

So what do I do?

Every day I’m not working – yes, every day, weekends too – I put the alarm on 05:40 and stumble out of bed. Actually, I put the alarm on 05:40 on the days I’m working too. On days I’m not working, I zombie-walk down the stairs and put on the coffee maker. At 06:00, (often 06:03 because I’m waiting for my coffee to drip down) I log into the morning office where I say good morning (and good evening to those in a different time zone) to Nell Iris, A.L. Lester, and J.M. Snyder.

We work together, each on their project, for three hours. At 09:00, my time, we put the pens down (only Nell writes with an actual pen) and say goodbye. Then starts the work I don’t think most people understand.

If you’re a reader who doesn’t only buy books when you see something you think you’ll enjoy but want to follow the authors you like, then you see us post something now and then. You might even interact with us (we love you for that! LOL).

Then you have five minutes to kill and you hop on another platform, and there we are again, a different post, posted at a different time. You scroll past it, maybe like it if it speaks to you, but it fades into the background, and it’s not something you’ll think of again.

I’m not complaining, not really. No one is forcing me to post anywhere, but if you don’t see my name pop up now and then, you’ll forget I exist. And if you don’t know I exist, you won’t read my books.

Writing is a small part of being an author 

  • I blog – This might be my favourite thing to do other than writing stories. I like blogging, but it takes time. I try to write at least one post a week, preferably more, and I try to have at least one guest a week both because I want to help you find new stories to read and because I want to help my colleagues out by giving them a little room. 
  • I post on Facebook – Ah, Facebook… I’ll let you in on a little secret. I detest Facebook, but everyone is on there. If you want to connect with the writer community or the M/M community, Facebook is as close to a must as you’ll come. So I’m on Facebook. I post on my page every day – that’s 365 posts a year I have to come up with. I have a group that I sadly tend to forget. In there I post 1-2 times a week maybe. I’ll do better there, I promise. And I have my profile where I mostly share other people’s stuff or stuff from my page. 
  • I pin stuff on Pinterest – I love Pinterest! Pinterest is my kind of platform. I have boards with everything M/M Romance. I pin the books I read and the guests I’m having. I’ve scaled down a little. I ‘only’ pin 4 times a day. I used to do 5-6, but it’s a lot of work to create pins and set everything up. Still, Pinterest probably is my favourite platform.
  • I post on Instagram – Instagram is nice. I post once a day, mostly about the books I read, my guests’ books, and my books. I like making Instagram posts, but it too takes time. 
  • I’m on Goodreads – I have to admit I don’t do much on Goodreads. I share my blog posts, but nowadays I only add my books and like reviews. I used to review the books I read, but it takes too much time. 
  • I’m on Bookbub – Same as Goodreads. I started reviewing books, but there only are 24 hours in a day, so I’ve just let it drop. I check the reviews of my books now and then. 
  • I’m on Booksprout – ARCs. When I have a new book out, I put it on Booksprout. It’s not a platform that takes a lot of time, but it does take some time. I add the information, I upload files and covers, I set a date when I want the ARC readers to leave their reviews, and then I have to log on again to send out reminder emails.
  • I have a newsletter – Now I send a letter on the first every month. I used to send one whenever I had a release, but then I thought the world was too chaotic, so I needed order and decided the first each month would be Newsletter Day. Now, I don’t know. I’m thinking about changing it again. But yeah, a newsletter takes some time to put together.  
  • I do promo things – Then we have everything else. I’m on Queer Romance Ink and Limfic where I upload my books and information about them – adding the information about each book takes a lifetime. I write guest posts for other people’s blogs. And don’t get me started on making promo pictures. I love photoshop, I do, but if you think you throw together a promo pic in five minutes, you’re wrong. I don’t attend a lot of Facebook parties or parties of any kind, but they take time too.  

And lately I’ve been thinking that maybe it was stupid of me to quit twitter. I never understood it, but maybe I ‘should’ be on there. 

I probably do more things that I don’t remember now, so writing really is the little part of it all. Oh, and I guess we can say it’s part of the writing, but we have the work I do with my lovely beta readers, my editor for each story, and let’s not forget the work with the cover artist.

And I’m extra stupid because I decided to have a personality split so I do all of the above for two names *shakes head*

I love writing stories, and I don’t think I’ll ever stop doing them, but if you think writing is what an author spends the most time on, I’m sorry to disappoint. It also takes away a bit from the fantasy, doesn’t it?