Uncategorized

Celebrating Pride with Ellie Ash #authorspotlight

Leave a comment

Happy Pride Month everyone!  Twinsie Tenise here. I would like to take a moment to thank everyone who took the time to answer the questions for our pride month celebration. I thought hard about the questions and had fun coming up with them. I love that the authors seemed to have as much fun answering them. We will be celebrating all month with author spotlights  as well as reviews for some of the LGBTQIA  books we’ve read this year.  Check back daily to learn more about that days featured author or book and add to your TBR piles. I hope you enjoy getting to know a little about all of these wonderful authors and their work.

🏳‍🌈 Tell us your name and a little about yourself?
Hi, I’m Ellie Ash! I’ve had a life-long love affair with books. A proud Canadian, I graduated from university with an English Literature Bachelors and Masters—as well as an avid appreciation for MM romance thanks to all the slash fanfiction I read and wrote. Around 2021, I realized that the kind of MM romance I enjoy was now being traditionally and indie published, and I haven’t looked back. From devouring ARCs to betaing and editing while writing in my spare time, I was inspired by a reader and writer conference in 2024 to take the plunge and put some of my own stories out in the world. In my spare time, I read, write, play D&D, and pursue other geeky interests.
🏳‍🌈 How many books have you written? Do you have a favorite?
I’ve written a *lot* of books, but many of them are still in first draft format. 😉 I’ve self-published 6 novels and a novella so far, with more planned for the future! They’re all my babies, and I definitely can’t pick a favorite.
🏳‍🌈 Do you write one book and finish it completely before starting the next? If not, how do you keep yourself from confusing the projects?
I almost always write linearly and one novel at a time. Occasionally, though, something comes up and I need to work on more than one book at once. I try to immerse myself in the moment with whatever I’m writing. (And hopefully, the projects are different enough that there’s less likelihood of confusion, like different sub-genres, etc.)
🏳‍🌈 What font do you write in? Do you actually care or is it a default setting?
Arial or Calibri. I don’t have super strong feelings as long as it’s clear and easy to read.
🏳‍🌈 How do you ensure your LGBTQ characters feel authentic and mutifaceted, rather than just serve a plot function?
I try to make each of my characters feel authentic, and LGBTQIA+ characters are no exception. Their orientation is only one small part of them, and I’m bringing quirks, habits, background, motivation, desires, and so much more into the mix.
🏳‍🌈 Do you have a favorite piece of LGBTQ history or fun fact you would like to share?
The first-ever protest for LGBTQIA+ rights in Canada took place in August in 1971 in Ottawa. That’s why Ottawa Pride is in August instead of June like it is for much of the world.
🏳‍🌈 What is one of your favorite books or movies with LGBTQ representation? 

Feel free to share more than one, I know it is difficult as a reader to pick one favorite of anything. Especially if its book related.
Yeah, totally impossible to pick just one, lol. Off the top of my head, a handful of my favorite books are: Honeymoon for One (Keira Andrews), How to be a Normal Person (TJ Klune), Widdershins (Jordan L Hawk), Dearest Milton James (NR Walker), A (Non) Comprehensive Guide to Sea Serpents (AJ Sherwood)
🏳‍🌈 What is something you have used for a bookmark that IS NOT a bookmark?
A $20 bill… and then I returned the book to the library. Suffice to say, I never made that mistake again.
🏳‍🌈 Do you listen to music while you write? If so, what are some of your favorite genres or songs?
Rarely. If I do listen to music, it has to be without words, or I get distracted. I like the epic fantasy vibe with movie or video game soundtracks (at least while writing fantasy. If I’m writing urban fantasy or contemporary, no music has fit my vibe so far).
🏳‍🌈 What is a super specific detail you know about one of your characters that has no relevance to the story? 
I looked up actual apartments and street addresses using GoogleMaps for a short story where it absolutely did not matter exactly where the MC lived.

https://www.amazon.com/author/ellieash
https://books2read.com/TLA1
https://books2read.com/PrincesCharm
Uncategorized

Celebrating Pride with Joel Shoemaker #WOTR2026 #attendingauthor #spotlight

Leave a comment

Happy Pride Month everyone!  Twinsie Tenise here. I would like to take a moment to thank everyone who took the time to answer the questions for our pride month celebration. I thought hard about the questions and had fun coming up with them. I love that the authors seemed to have as much fun answering them. We will be celebrating all month with author spotlights  as well as reviews for some of the LGBTQIA  books we’ve read this year.  Check back daily to learn more about that days featured author or book and add to your TBR piles. I hope you enjoy getting to know a little about all of these wonderful authors and their work.

Day 7 of Pride month and I would like to introduce you to Mr. Joel Shoemaker. I have known him a few years now.  He is an absolute delight to have a conversation with and his smile is always beaming! I love his love for his husband and enjoy keeping up with their shenanigans online.

🏳‍🌈 Tell us your name and a little about yourself?
Joel Shoemaker has been a librarian for over a decade and a magician for more than three! He lives in central Illinois with his husband, frogs named Penn and Teller, a bearded dragon called Toothless, a colony of cherry shrimp, currently nameless, and his dog, Maximus. He consumes an inordinate amount of cheese.
🏳‍🌈 How many books have you written? Do you have a favorite?
4, my favorite is probably my first, bacon grief, as it remains one of the only works of fiction for teens and tweens to celebrate and affirm both faith and sexuality. I also love Silas on Sundays which follows a gender nonconforming child to church. There is a sequel called Silas on Stage coming this year from the same publisher!
🏳‍🌈 Do you write one book and finish it completely before starting the next? If not, how do you keep yourself from confusing the projects?
I don’t write a lot of “books” per se. My other two books not mentioned above are both short story collections. I write a lot of things that start out as flash fiction and may or may not become a book of some kind, at some point in the future.
🏳‍🌈 What font do you write in? Do you actually care or is it a default setting?
I have NEVER even given this a single thought. Fascinating. I guess the default!
🏳‍🌈 How do you ensure your LGBTQ characters feel authentic and mutifaceted, rather than just serve a plot function?
My LGBTQ characters are all I care about and I write about a very specific niche, that being, at the intersection of faith and sexuality. That said, I am not gender nonconforming and the publishing team put a lot of care into making sure Silas felt authentic.
🏳‍🌈 Do you have a favorite piece of LGBTQ history or fun fact you would like to share?
The first openly gay doll, Gay Bob, was launched in 1977.
🏳‍🌈 What is one of your favorite books or movies with LGBTQ representation? 

Feel free to share more than one, I know it is difficult as a reader to pick one favorite of anything. Especially if its book related.
I really liked TWINLESS. I mean, it was bananas for sure, but I absolutely loved it. Also BOOTS. I hear it didn’t get renewed because of political pressures and that’s really annoying if true. Brilliant show!
🏳‍🌈What is something you have used for a bookmark that IS NOT a bookmark?
Coasters! And receipts, of course. The library asks you if you want to print a receipt and the only reason I say yes is when I want it for a bookmark.
🏳‍🌈 Do you listen to music while you write? If so, what are some of your favorite genres or songs?
No, I’m not a big music person generally.
🏳‍🌈 What is a super specific detail you know about one of your characters that has no relevance to the story? 
Charlie, the character that is basically me in my roman a clef, that is, bacon grief, is a WIZARD at tetherball. Because I, while by no means being excellent at the game, ADORE even the very idea of tetherball. I wish there was a flourishing tetherball community somewhere that I could join. Honestly, there probably is. I’ll be looking into that now.
https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B09JWRXWTT/
Uncategorized

#WOTR26 #NewRelease #Review – Mountain Champion: Brotherhood Protectors World (Green Mountain Guardians Book 5) – by Gia Cobie

Leave a comment

I learned the hard way that relationships aren’t worth the trouble.

That was a hard lesson I learned after winding up pregnant and alone at nineteen. Facing an uncertain future, I dropped out of college and moved home to take care of my baby.

Ten years later, I wouldn’t change a thing. My ex might be a deadbeat, but I have my daughter. I have a job I enjoy. I have well-meaning friends who try to fix me up, insisting they know “just the right guy” this time.

But I don’t want a relationship. I don’t need one. At least I didn’t think so until Ronan. He’s different. He likes me and my daughter. He puts cracks in the walls I’ve erected around my heart. And when I’m in danger, he’s the one I trust to protect me.

Falling for a single mom and her daughter was the last thing I expected.

But there’s just something about Angel that calls to me. She’s beautiful. Kind. Funny. And when I’m with Angel and her daughter, the dreams I gave up on years ago don’t seem so unreachable anymore.

Still, I’m hesitant. For all the danger I faced fearlessly on the battlefield, I’m scared of being hurt by a woman again.

Then someone tries to hurt Angel. My Angel. Determined to protect her, I’ll use everything I learned in the Special Forces, along with the help from my teammates at Green Mountain Guardians, to make sure no one ever hurts her again.

Mountain Champion is a steamy romantic suspense set in small town Vermont featuring a former Delta Force operator, a single mom with a spunky daughter, a security team of Special Ops veterans, found family, forced proximity, edge-of-your-seat twists, and a guaranteed HEA. Can be read as a standalone.

Amazon

Goodreads

Review by Twinsie Melinda

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Gia Cobie has a way of telling small town stories that completely pulled me in. Hazel was putting her matchmaking magic skills to work by trying to get Ronan and Angel a single mom together, in my opinion Hazel got this one so right.

Ronan may claim he does not want a relationship, but you cannot tell this by his actions.  Ronan stole my heart when he built the small ski slope in Angel’s yard for Haley. Then he keeps going back to check on them. Ronan is only fooling himself because it is obvious just how much he cares about Angel and Haley by the things he does for them.

Watching the relationships grow between Ronan, Angel, and Haley is one of my favorite parts. I loved seeing Ronan and Angel slowly open up to each, but it was the things Ronan did for Haley made me fall in love with him even more. Every interaction between them felt genuine and sweet in the best way. Ronan was protective, caring, and impossible not to love. Angel and Haley made the perfect addition to his life even if he fought it every step of the way.

I love Gia Cobie stories mostly because you do not have to read the series in order to follow the stories. They are stand alone they can be read in order or not. I personally started with book 3 in this series but I will be going back to read book 1 and 2.

Gia Cobie is an award-winning and Amazon best-selling author living in upstate New York with her husband and pets. In her spare time, Gia enjoys reading and spending time in the Adirondacks, and also has a soft spot for reality romance shows and buying too many books. Gia loves writing about protective heroes and strong heroines who always find their much-deserved happy endings.

Follow her to get updates about upcoming releases and news!

Uncategorized

Celebrating Pride with Cassie Lein #WOTR26 #attendingauthor #spotlight

Leave a comment

Happy Pride Month everyone!  Twinsie Tenise here. I would like to take a moment to thank everyone who took the time to answer the questions for our pride month celebration. I thought hard about the questions and had fun coming up with them. I love that the authors seemed to have as much fun answering them. We will be celebrating all month with author spotlights  as well as reviews for some of the LGBTQIA  books we’ve read this year.  Check back daily to learn more about that days featured author or book and add to your TBR piles. I hope you enjoy getting to know a little about all of these wonderful authors and their work.

🏳‍🌈 Tell us your name and a little about yourself?
Cassie Lein – Mom of 6, northern Illinois resident, Special Education para in school to be a SPED teacher. I love sitting on my deck listening to my family swim sipping a cocktail.
🏳‍🌈 How many books have you written? Do you have a favorite?
14 by myself.
🏳‍🌈 Do you write one book and finish it completely before starting the next? If not, how do you keep yourself from confusing the projects?
Yes I only write one by myself at a time. Now I can write one by myself and 1 as a cowrite and be fine.
🏳‍🌈 What font do you write in? Do you actually care or is it a default setting?
Times new roman! It’s usually Arial by default but I dont fuck with that lol
🏳‍🌈 How do you ensure your LGBTQ characters feel authentic and mutifaceted, rather than just serve a plot function?
One of the most important things I focus on is character depth outside of their sexuality. My LGBTQ characters have goals, fears, careers, family dynamics, humor, and flaws that exist independently of the romance plot.
🏳‍🌈 Do you have a favorite piece of LGBTQ history or fun fact you would like to share?
One of my favorite pieces of LGBTQ history is the Stonewall Riots in 1969. It’s often considered the turning point that sparked the modern LGBTQ rights movement in the United States. At the time, police raids on gay bars were very common. On June 28, 1969, police raided the Stonewall Inn, a popular gathering place for LGBTQ people in New York. Instead of quietly dispersing like people had been forced to do in the past, the patrons and neighbors resisted. The confrontation turned into several nights of protests and demonstrations in Greenwich Village.
🏳‍🌈 What is one of your favorite books or movies with LGBTQ representation? 

Feel free to share more than one, I know it is difficult as a reader to pick one favorite of anything. Especially if its book related.
Book would be Pretty Little Monster by Z Storm.
🏳‍🌈 What is something you have used for a bookmark that IS NOT a bookmark?
String, Receipt, Card, Envelope
🏳‍🌈 Do you listen to music while you write? If so, what are some of your favorite genres or songs?
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6fLt5OibPFXRcD8vhDdxWL?si=eqTQuMLAQXG4y6W78YgVAg
🏳‍🌈 What is a super specific detail you know about one of your characters that has no relevance to the story? 
Obsessed with Dr Pepper

https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B0BDGH7BM6

 

 

Uncategorized

Celebrating Pride with Joe Chianakas #wotr26 #attendingauthor #spotlight

Leave a comment

Happy Pride Month everyone!  Twinsie Tenise here. I would like to take a moment to thank everyone who took the time to answer the questions for our pride month celebration. I thought hard about the questions and had fun coming up with them. I love that the authors seemed to have as much fun answering them. We will be celebrating all month with author spotlights  as well as reviews for some of the LGBTQIA  books we’ve read this year.  Check back daily to learn more about that days featured author or book and add to your TBR piles. I hope you enjoy getting to know a little about all of these wonderful authors and their work.

🏳‍🌈 Tell us your name and a little about yourself?
My name is Joe Chianakas. I’m a professor, author, and husband living in Peoria, Illinois. I teach communication and creative writing, and I’ve been fortunate enough to win Teacher of the Year at three different colleges I’ve taught at (I’m currently fulltime at Illinois Central College). I write stories about outsiders, resilience, and chosen family. I love to write about queer characters navigating identity, courage, and community.
🏳‍🌈 How many books have you written? Do you have a favorite?
I’ve written several and published over ten. I’ve written several novels, including Singlets and Secrets, Pride and Persistence, Darkness Calls, and others currently in progress. (I have several novels under a pen name, too, that I don’t promote– that’s just fun fun.) My most recent work is usually my favorite! But if I had to pick my personal #1, Singlets and Secrets will always hold a special place in my heart. It’s a story that has connected me with hundreds of groups and readers around the country, and I’m so grateful for the opportunities the book has brought my way.
🏳‍🌈 Do you write one book and finish it completely before starting the next? If not, how do you keep yourself from confusing the projects?
I wish I were the kind of writer who could focus on one book at a time, but my brain doesn’t really work that way. I often have multiple projects going at once. One might be in drafting mode, another in revisions, and another in the early “idea storm” phase. The way I keep everything straight is by giving each project its own creative lane– and sometimes a creative season. I work on horror when it’s cold and gray out. I work on my inspiring stories when the sun shines. Besides the “season,” it’s my music playlist that keeps me organized. I have dark music for horror. I have love songs and breakup songs when I’m writing in Aiden’s world (Singlets and Secrets).
🏳‍🌈 What font do you write in? Do you actually care or is it a default setting?
Good old Times New Roman because I have a publisher with a style guide I have to follow
🏳‍🌈 How do you ensure your LGBTQ characters feel authentic and mutifaceted, rather than just serve a plot function?
For me, authenticity starts with remembering that LGBTQ characters are people first. Our identities matter, but that’s not the only thing that defines us. We have humor, flaws, fears, ambitions, friendships, and messy emotions like everyone else. I also draw from real experiences. My own life, the stories students share with me, conversations within the community, and the environments many queer people grow up in. I want my characters to feel layered and real, not symbolic or simplified. And if nothing else– I write from a queer perspective because I AM queer. And when I write from perspectives that are not part of my identity, I test my work with beta readers and use real research to help develop my characters.
🏳‍🌈 Do you have a favorite piece of LGBTQ history or fun fact you would like to share?
One moment in LGBTQ history that always resonates with me is the story of Harvey Milk. Milk was one of the first openly gay elected officials in the United States, serving on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in the late 1970s. At a time when many people were afraid to live openly, he encouraged LGBTQ people to “come out,” believing visibility was one of the most powerful tools for social change. What inspires me most is how he connected politics with hope. Milk often reminded people that they weren’t alone and that their voices mattered. I also love highlighting contemporary voices shaping LGBTQ literature today. One powerful example is George M. Johnson, the author of All Boys Aren’t Blue. Their memoir blends personal storytelling with reflections on identity, family, and growing up Black and queer in America. What makes the book so impactful is its honesty. Johnson talks openly about vulnerability, masculinity, and belonging in ways that resonate with many readers, especially young people trying to understand themselves. For me as a writer and educator, books like All Boys Aren’t Blue show how storytelling can create empathy and give people language for experiences they might not have felt safe expressing before.
🏳‍🌈 What is one of your favorite books or movies with LGBTQ representation? 

Feel free to share more than one, I know it is difficult as a reader to pick one favorite of anything. Especially if its book related.
That’s a tough one. There are so many great stories now. One book I absolutely love recommending is The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune. It’s one of those rare stories that manages to feel both whimsical and deeply meaningful at the same time. The novel follows a caseworker who is sent to evaluate a mysterious orphanage for magical children, and what unfolds is this beautiful exploration of acceptance, chosen family, and learning to see people for who they truly are. What I appreciate most is how naturally the LGBTQ representation exists within the story. It’s not forced or reduced to a single message. Instead, it’s woven into a larger theme about compassion and belonging. The characters are quirky, funny, and deeply human, and by the end you feel like you’ve been invited into a warm, strange, magical little world that reminds you kindness still matters. As a writer, I admire how the book balances heart, humor, and imagination. As a reader, it just made me happy. And sometimes that’s exactly the kind of story we need!
🏳‍🌈 What is something you have used for a bookmark that IS NOT a bookmark?
Oh, I use receipts, bills, concert memorabilia, once even a student’s paper I hadn’t finished grading!
🏳‍🌈 Do you listen to music while you write? If so, what are some of your favorite genres or songs?
YES!!! I have so many playlists, and I match my music to the emotion that I’m writing. When I wrote Darkness Calls, I used the score from Stranger Things as well as John Carpenter’s Lost Themes (highly recommend both to my horror writers!). For Aiden’s story in Singlets and Secrets, I remember creating a playlist of the most heartbreaking songs I could find to get my emotions pumping!
🏳‍🌈 What is a super specific detail you know about one of your characters that has no relevance to the story? 
Aiden, the protagonist in Singlets and Secrets, hates horror movies and makes fun of a horror book called Rabbit in Red. Which is my first horror book 🙂 It’s healthy to poke fun at ourselves!

What are your purchase links?
Readers can find my books and learn more about my work here on my website: https://joechianakas.weebly.com/
And here is my Amazon Author Page:
https://www.amazon.com/author/joechianakas
Uncategorized

Celebrating Pride with KM Neuhold #authorspotlight

Leave a comment

Happy Pride Month everyone!  Twinsie Tenise here. I would like to take a moment to thank everyone who took the time to answer the questions for our pride month celebration. I thought hard about the questions and had fun coming up with them. I love that the authors seemed to have as much fun answering them. We will be celebrating all month with author spotlights  as well as reviews for some of the LGBTQIA  books we’ve read this year.  Check back daily to learn more about that days featured author or book and add to your TBR piles. I hope you enjoy getting to know a little about all of these wonderful authors and their work.

🏳‍🌈Tell us your name and a little about yourself?
I’m K.M. Neuhold and I write MM and MM(M+) romance books! Most of my books are low angst, high heat, and full of humor, found family, guys being dumbasses, and lots of loveable pets. When I’m not writing I’m playing with my three huskies and watching horror movies.
🏳‍🌈 How many books have you written? Do you have a favorite?
Including novellas and co-writes I’ve written around 87 books to date. It’s so hard to pick a favorite, but I think currently Deadly Little Sparrow is my favorite that I’ve written because it’s one I really stepped out of my comfort zone to write and really enjoyed challenging myself with.
🏳‍🌈  Do you write one book and finish it completely before starting the next? If not, how do you keep yourself from confusing the projects?
I can write one solo book and one co-write at a time, but not 2 solo projects at once. It’s much easier to keep things straight when one of them is a co-write, but with 2 solo projects I end up mixing tone too much or switching up characters, so I’ve learned not to do that.
🏳‍🌈 What font do you write in? Do you actually care or is it a default setting?
Times New Roman is my automatic. Every time I start a new doc I always set it to TNR 12pt before I start. It’s just out of habit, but now it would just feel wrong to have it set to anything else.
🏳‍🌈 How do you ensure your LGBTQ characters feel authentic and mutifaceted, rather than just serve a plot function?
Just like in real life, sexuality is only ONE part of who someone is. I am bisexual myself, but that only defines one tiny part of who I am, and I treat my characters exactly the same way. They have interests, hobbies, quirks, and everything else that any straight character would have.
🏳‍🌈 Do you have a favorite piece of LGBTQ history or fun fact you would like to share?
Not something specific, but it always amuses me how many historical figures had “roommates” or “best friends” who they very clearly were in love with. Alexander the Great famously had a “best friend” who he referred to as the love of his life who I believe he was even burried with later. Abe Lincoln also had a “best friend” whom he shared a bed with when the man came to visit him at the White House. And those are just two off the top of my head. History is full of so many LGBTQ+ people than we’re lead to believe.
🏳‍🌈 What is one of your favorite books or movies with LGBTQ representation?Feel free to share more than one, I know it is difficult as a reader to pick one favorite of anything. Especially if its book related.
Schitt’s Creek will always be a comfort watch show for me with Daniel Levey playing a pansexual main character. I tend to lean more towards representations of queer joy rather than the heartbreaking types of queer movies or shows, so it can be hard to find many to watch! Books are much easier and off the top of my head some of my favorite authors who bring the queer joy in heaps are: Charlie Novak, Mia Monroe, Lucy Lennox, and C Rochelle, just to name a few of my favorites.
🏳‍🌈What is something you have used for a bookmark that IS NOT a bookmark?
I typically use the reciept
🏳‍🌈 Do you listen to music while you write? If so, what are some of your favorite genres or songs?
I prefer binaural sounds or brown noise to help me focus when I’m writing. But when I’m plotting or getting ready to write I have playlists that go along with specific series. They’re very varied depending on each series so I can capture the vibe of the specific characters for inspiration. But in general, lots of pop music, rap, and rock.
🏳‍🌈 What is a super specific detail you know about one of your characters that has no relevance to the story? 
to be honest, I have ADHD and I forget even the story relevant details the second I finish writing a story 😂
You can find my books on Amazon/Kindle Unlimited. Here’s my Author page on Amazon: https://readerlinks.com/l/4023778

 

 

 

Uncategorized

Celebrating Pride with A.D. Ellis #WOTR2026 #attendingauthor #spotlight

Leave a comment

Happy Pride Month everyone!  Twinsie Tenise here. I would like to take a moment to thank everyone who took the time to answer the questions for our pride month celebration. I thought hard about the questions and had fun coming up with them. I love that the authors seemed to have as much fun answering them. We will be celebrating all month with author spotlights  as well as reviews for some of the LGBTQIA  books we’ve read this year.  Check back daily to learn more about that days featured author or book and add to your TBR piles. I hope you enjoy getting to know a little about all of these wonderful authors and their work.

On day 3 of Pride Month we are spotlighting one of my most favorite humans, A.D. Ellis. If you see us giving each other a hard time; online or in person– it is completely out of love– I promise. We met and I feel like we immediately clicked. Soon after she asked me to be an Alpha reader and the rest is history. Now she couldn’t get rid of me if she tried. She is a kindhearted, loving, genuine human with THE BEST hair! I am super lucky to have her as a friend. The MM romances A.D. has released are spicy and addictive. It is hard to pick a single favorite as I have a few and I refuse to narrow them down. Make sure to check out their blacklist when you finish the spotlight.  💜

 

🏳‍🌈 Tell us your name and a little about yourself?
Hi! I’m A.D. Ellis. I’m an educator of almost three decades, the mom of two 18+ kids, and a lifelong Indiana girl (please don’t hold that against me!) I’ve been writing and publishing since 2014. I’m a huge fan of tea, a brand-new coffee drinker, a lover of plants, and a master napper. I adore laughing with friends, sipping sweet red wine, and reading along with writing. I’m a bit of a weirdo. I’m an extreme overthinker. And I have an odd sense of humor.
🏳‍🌈 How many books have you written? Do you have a favorite?
I’ve published 58 single titles, along with several box sets, stories in anthologies, audiobooks, and translations. To choose a favorite is impossible. At this point in time, I’ll go with The Men of Haven Grove as my favorite series and Once Upon a Christmas House as my favorite single title (but I feel bad even listing those because I love them all!)
🏳‍🌈 Do you write one book and finish it completely before starting the next? If not, how do you keep yourself from confusing the projects?
For the most part, yes. Occasionally, I will have a couple stories going, but I almost always keep everything separate.
🏳‍🌈 What font do you write in? Do you actually care or is it a default setting?
Almost always Comic Sans. I think it’s MY default these days. There are definitely some fonts I could NEVER write in.
🏳‍🌈 How do you ensure your LGBTQ characters feel authentic and mutifaceted, rather than just serve a plot function?
I think it’s important to surround yourself with authentic and multifaceted people in life, in books, in media, in writing communities, etc. Writing LGBTQ characters should never be just a way to check a box for plot points or being able to fit into a certain category. All of my characters will always be written as authentically as possible based on friends and family around me, my own experiences, the amazing books I’ve read, the conversations I have with my author friends, and what I can learn by educating myself.
🏳‍🌈 Do you have a favorite piece of LGBTQ history or fun fact you would like to share?
I can’t say that I have ONE piece of LGBTQ history to share, but I have spent the last decade educating myself about LGBTQ history because it wasn’t something I was exposed to when growing up. When I realized the massive amount of LGBTQ history I’d missed out on, I was so very angry. (This is true for the histories of all marginalized people. I’m so very angry about the histories that were buried.) I recently listened to the audiobook about The Upstairs Lounge. I’d learned of this tragedy several years ago; the audiobook was a HARD listen, but also very good. One thing I love on social media is The AIDS Memorial. I love the stories that get shared. They are often very hard reads, but it’s so very important to give those stories space and honor the people being remembered.
🏳‍🌈 What is one of your favorite books or movies with LGBTQ representation? Feel free to share more than one, I know it is difficult as a reader to pick one favorite of anything. Especially if its book related. Ack! This is so hard! Obviously, Heated Rivalry most recently. I LOVED Red, White, and Royal Blue in book/audio/movie formats. I LOVED the Simon Snow series on audio. I adore pretty much anything by Gregory Ashe, Tal Bauer, NR Walker, Nicky James…the list goes on and on and on.
🏳‍🌈 What is something you have used for a bookmark that IS NOT a bookmark?
I’m guilty of dog-earring. I know! So bad. Receipts, nail file, gum wrapper, etc.
🏳‍🌈 Do you listen to music while you write? If so, what are some of your favorite genres or songs?
If I listen, it has to be without lyrics.
Find them all here – https://linktr.ee/adellisauthor

 

Uncategorized

#WOTR26 #attendingauthor #spotlight Celebrating Pride with Audrey Simmons

Leave a comment

Happy Pride Month everyone!  Twinsie Tenise here. I would like to take a moment to thank everyone who took the time to answer the questions for our pride month celebration. I thought hard about the questions and had fun coming up with them. I love that the authors seemed to have as much fun answering them. We will be celebrating all month with author spotlights  as well as reviews for some of the LGBTQIA  books we’ve read this year.  Check back daily to learn more about that days featured author or book and add to your TBR piles. I hope you enjoy getting to know a little about all of these wonderful authors and their work.

🏳‍🌈 Tell us your name and a little about yourself? I’m Audrey. You can call me Aud. I write epic romantic fantasy and under the pen name Andrea Marie Johnson I write dark why choose romantasy. And of course, all of it is queer. I’m an artist. I dabble in all sorts of things including wire jewelry, photography, and bronze sculpture but my favorites are character illustrations and fantasy maps. When I’m not writing or drawing, I’m probably playing video games (I have a BFA in animation and game design!) or watching anime (current favorites are: Spy x Family, Apothecary Diaries, and My Hero Academia). If you spend any time with me at all you will learn that I have a deep love of frogs.

🏳‍🌈 How many books have you written? Do you have a favorite?
 I have four books out currently. 3 under Audrey and 1 under Andi Marie and hopefully by the time WotR happens, I’ll have a Red Society short story published in an anthology. My favorite is definitely Shadows Dark and Deadly. When I wrote Child of the Moon I was still deep in denial about my sexuality and gender and SDaD is when I really started to embrace and accept it. It’s unapologetically bi and writing Damara’s enby egg starting to crack helped me crack my own.
🏳‍🌈 Do you write one book and finish it completely before starting the next? If not, how do you keep yourself from confusing the projects?
My process is chaos. Sometimes I’ll start a WIP and finish draft 1 in under 2 months while only working on it (ok that was just SDaD but still), and sometimes I will take years to write draft 1 while also working on other WIPs. I think I’m pretty good at compartmentalizing all my 30+ WIPs. It also helps that when I switch things up, I start from the beginning because it’s been too long and I need a refresher on the story. By the time I catch back up, I’ve got a good idea of the voice/story/etc.
🏳‍🌈 What font do you write in? Do you actually care or is it a default setting?
I have written in Arial for at least 15 years now. Idk what it is about that font but it just feels good to write in.
🏳‍🌈How do you ensure your LGBTQ characters feel authentic and mutifaceted, rather than just serve a plot function?
I try not to write MCs outside of my own queer identity. All my MCs are bi (yes, even Neoma, she just doesn’t know it yet), I’ve got nonbinary MCs in the works and even a few that are demi. For LIs and important side characters, I try to avoid stereotypes, write them as people and use sensitivity readers
🏳‍🌈 Do you have a favorite piece of LGBTQ history or fun fact you would like to share?
Polari is a whole slang language that was used by queer men in the UK in the 1900s because of the strict laws against homosexuality. It fell out of popularity after the UK legalized homosexuality in 1967.
🏳‍🌈 What is one of your favorite books or movies with LGBTQ representation? Feel free to share more than one, I know it is difficult as a reader to pick one favorite of anything. Especially if its book related.
This feels sort of like cheating since it just recently came out and everyone is talking about it (at the time of writing this in February) but Heated Rivalry. There’s just something really refreshing about a romance TV show about queer love where I don’t have to worry about it being tragic. I was also 18 in 08 which basically makes the characters the same age as me (if it took place in 2026) so I relate as a millennial but also as a deeply closeted high school jock (swimmer).
🏳‍🌈 What is something you have used for a bookmark that IS NOT a bookmark?
Fruit snacks wrapper
🏳‍🌈 Do you listen to music while you write? If so, what are some of your favorite genres or songs?
I alternate between listening to music and forgetting music even exists. This past year I’ve listened almost exclusively to Sleep Token with the occasional Evanescence because I didn’t realize they’d made any music since like 2008.
🏳‍🌈 What is a super specific detail you know about one of your characters that has no relevance to the story? 
Cerise’s favorite color is pink.
Child of the Moon: https://buy.bookfunnel.com/dww5tqe1q2
Child of the Forest: https://buy.bookfunnel.com/zxtsg50q6z
Child of the Sun: https://buy.bookfunnel.com/j3hme04b0p
Shadows Dark and Deadly: https://buy.bookfunnel.com/ii9d34ov5t
Uncategorized

#mmromance #favorites Celebrating Pride with Twinsie Talk

Leave a comment

Hi friends, its me, Twinsie Tenise! I will be here with you every day for the month of June hosting Twinsie Talks annual Pride month celebration. This month between the author spotlights I will be sharing my reviews for some of the books I’ve read so far this year that fit the theme. I’ve read hundreds of MM romances over the years and sometimes I like to reread old favorites. Kicking off pride month, I want to share some MM books that I read in the past then read them again in 2026.

Make sure to check back daily, you aren’t going to want to miss a thing. I hope you find lots of new to you authors with backlists to overflow your tbr piles.
The Mercenary and the Mortician by: Alexandra St. Pierre
This book was wild. It left me searching for months for a similar book. To this day, I find myself yearning for another book like this one. It was deliciously dark with some absolutely delightful side characters. Don’t even get me started on the audiobook because it was also *chefs kiss* perfection.
Jett & Leighton by: Ad Ellis
This is book 1 in the On Cravenwood Block Series. I read all of A.D’s books at least twice. The first time as one of her Alpha readers, then the next after its released. Someone in a reader group was asking for recs with a tattoo artist and I immediately thought of these 2 while also realizing I missed them. That prompted my 3rd time reading Jett & Leighton. They were so fun to get to know and watch their relationship grow. I thoroughly enjoyed the entire series.
Humbled by: Kate Hawthorne
This book became my obsession for a minute THEN the audiobook was released and I was freaking done for- Don’t ask me how many times I’ve read and listened to this book since it was released. I said don’t ask!
Black & White by: Vinni George
Oh Vinni. Getting me addicted to shifters when I had zero desire to know anything about them. Well that was until I discovered your work. Friends! If you watched and loved the old series White Collar with my boy Matt Bomer in it then you MUST check out this series. Its so good. Each book follows a different ORCA shifter brother and their group efforts to solve some Neal Cafferty-like crimes. Ugh! I just love them all so much. NO! I Will not pick a favorite.
Spencer Cohen, book 1 by: NR Walker
Daniel wants his ex back and the best person for the job is Spencer. So its a client and his matchmaker. I had friends saying it was one of their favorite books ever. Me? I wasn’t understanding the hype. I thought it wouldn’t be my thing. I knew about the series for YEARS before starting it. Now it has become yet another NR Walker book obsession. The audio is so freaking addicting. When I’m in a funk, the audio version of this book gets me through it.
Amazon
Uncategorized

#WOTR26 #Comedy – The Last Single Girl by Bria Quinlan

Leave a comment

Get a date for the big gala in four weeks when I thought I could go solo? Challenge, accepted.

Now to find a hot, interesting guy who will dress up for a gala. Last minute. Who doesn’t already have plans on the busiest date night of the year.

But, so far the best part of the search for a great date has been the cute café I found and the geeky-hot owner who keeps rescuing me from these crazy eLove.com dates.

This should be easy-peasy. The internet is the home of all your hopes and needs, right?

Spoiler Alert: it isn’t.

Between the bromance date and the crazed single dad who needs to hire a nanny and housekeeper, not get a date, I’m running out of options.

If only a certain cutey didn’t have a phone call with “sweetheart” every day.

The weirder things get, the more I think just going solo is very I Am Woman, blah blah blah. Forget about the fact that my heart keeps bringing me back to a certain café even when I don’t need to be there…I mean, my heart doesn’t always get what it wants, does it?

Goodreads

Buy Link

Review by Twinsie Angie

Check out this review and others at:
www.Twinsietalk.com
www.Facebook.com/Twinsietalk
www.Twitter.com/Twinsietalk
www.instagram.com/twinsietalkbookreview
Newsletter : http://eepurl.com/brwkPv

The Last Single Girl by Bria Quinlan
I purchased this audiobook.
I have read a few really heavy and dark books lately. I needed something fun and light hearted. I needed something sweet and fun. I also needed something to spend my audio credit on….hence this book.
Guys, this book was everything I needed. It most definitely took me out of the dark stuff I have been reading into a fun and adorable happy story.
Sarah is in need of a date. Sarah is pushed into online dating due to a “friend” who makes she feel less then because she doesn’t have a boyfriend. The dates are an absolutely horror show to say in the least. She is meeting her dates at a coffee shop when she befriends the shop owner. Slowly they build a friendship when Sarah realizes, Holy crap I love John!
The story was adorable and sweet and I will be grabbing the 2nd one asap. The story was just sweet and funny and everything you need at times.

RWA RITA award finalist and USA Today Best Seller Bria Quinlan writes Diet-Coke-Snort-Worthy Rom Coms about what it’s like to be a girl and deal with crap and still look for love. She also writes books for teens that take hard topics and make you laugh through your tears. Some people call them issue books. Some people call them romantic comedies. Bria calls them what-life-looks-like.

Her stories remind you that life is an adventure not to be ignored. You can contact her at www.briaquinlan.com OR on Twitter @briaquinlan.

Rep’d by Laird Lauren Macleod of the Clan…. Oh, wait. Of Strothman Agency.

 

We are THE TWINSIES… We love to read…We love to promote the authors we read… and we love to stir up TROUBLE… It's who we are and what we do