Category: New Releases

Blog Tour with KD Williamson! “One Reason”

HAI, FRENZ! Welcome to this here whistlestop on the KD Williamson blog tour! We’re celebrating the release of her latest F/F romance, Big Girl Pill, and that involves giveaways and blogs and happy fun times! WOOOOO! See below for the schedule and for the giveaway deets!

SYNOPSIS:

Maya Davis is done hiding. It’s left her empty and out of touch with her family. Now she’s a young woman on a mission: getting rid of residual feelings for her former best friend from college. Her plan is to put herself through a wringer by being in Nina’s upcoming wedding and burning away whatever emotions are left, so she can start anew. Her plan, however, has big holes, and everything she’s been feeling rushes through and leaves her thinking that this was a bad idea.

Nina Sterling is a work in progress, torn between being two very different things—the person others expect her to be and who she wants to become. For the past couple of years, it’s been easier to give in toher demanding, steamroller of a mother and her pleasant but controlling fiancé, but with Maya’s return for a lengthy stay in town, and encouragement from Nina’s hilarious cousin, seeds of rebellion are sown.

As Maya and Nina try to patch up the past and get closer, old sparks rekindle, and as they both grow into who they are meant to be, those sparks might just become a fire.

And now, I’ll leave it to KD. Thanks for joining us. 🙂

One Reason

I don’t write about black people simply because I’m black. That’s only one reason. Having a degree in literature has made me privy to some incredible books and epic poems, but I also got the chance to see a huge selection of harmful tropes and stereotypes about women and about people of color. I told myself that if I ever got to really write I’d do my best to educate and illuminate that POC, especially, are not “other”. Our experiences are similar. Our lives are similar, and I think I really got to showcase that in my latest novel, Big Girl Pill.

Family as a concept has a huge role in this book. As one family comes together, the other disintegrates. I delve into the importance of loyalty, communication, empathy and caring, which are things most of us strive for in family life. Just because Maya’s family is black and non-traditional doesn’t make that any different. They are flawed, but they don’t have to be broken. They laugh. They try to be there for each other and they try to be honest.

Sound familiar? Nothing “other” and unrelatable about that.

On the flip side is Nina Sterling’s experience, which is completely opposite from Maya’s. Nina doesn’t find strength in that bond. Instead, there’s toxicity. It takes her a while to really see that, but she’s young. Give her a break, yes? Still, she forges ahead and unconsciously forms something completely new for herself, which does indeed lift her up. In other words, they both pretty much strive for the same thing as they move closer toward each other. I mean, it is a romance after all.

So, what I’m trying to say is take away our skin suits and we’re pretty much the same and want the same things. Some may go after it differently, but that’s an individual thing, not a race thing.

How about we just read romance and enjoy?

KD Williamson is a Southerner and a former nomad, taking up residence in the Mid-West, east coast, and New Orleans over the years. She was a Hurricane Katrina survivor displaced to the mountains of North Carolina but has since found her way back to Louisiana where she lives with her wife and the most horribly spoiled pets in history.

She enjoys all things geek from video games to super heroes. KD is a veteran in the mental health field where she works with children and their families. She discovered writing as a teenager with the help of her English teacher, whom she had a huge crush on. With her teacher’s help, KD wrote her first short story but afterward had a hard time finding inspiration. Years later, writing fanfic became her gateway into lesbian fiction.

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Indeed! How about a giveaway? Hit the link to get all signed up.

RAFFLECOPTER GIVEAWAY LINK OMG

AND!
To buy Big Girl Pill:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Kobo

Find KD:
Website
Twitter (@Rizzleslovr72)
Facebook
Instagram
Goodreads Profile

KD Williamson blog tour schedule:

1/21 Dirt Road Books
1/22 KD Williamson
1/23 Cheyenne Blue
1/24 RG Emanuelle

1/27 Andi Marquette
1/28 Sacchi Green
1/29 Women and Words
1/30 Dirt Road Books

by Categories: Blog Tour, Books, Free Books, New ReleasesTags: , ,

Sacchi Green Blog Tour – Andi Marquette

HI, all!

So I’m super-stoked to be a host on this here awesome blog tour for the one and only Lambda-winning Sacchi Green! Dirt Road Books just released her latest collection of F/F short stories (full disclosure: I am a co-founder and co-owner of DRB) and we’re all extremely excited about this anthology, and we think you will be, too. It spans historical eras, themes, and deals with narrative and characterization as only Sacchi can. Continue reading →

by Categories: Blog Tour, Blog Tours, New Books, New ReleasesTags: , , , , 1 Comment

BLOG HOP! If Looks Could Kill PLUS GIANT-ASS GIVEAWAY FOR REALZ

Hi, all! So here’s my slightly late hop on The Law Game blog hop.

AND! DO NOT FORGET to get in on the giveaway! Leave a comment at Women and Words on THIS LINK. We are giving away a SET OF ALL FIVE OF THESE BOOKS, ebook. FOR REALZ. GO SEE!

For those not in the know, The Law Game is a collection of novellas/novels that all share a common theme. They have to do with “law” in some way.

I’m the last stop! HA! The buck stops here! Okay, not really. I don’t know what the buck does on its off time, but it doesn’t linger too long around here.

Oh, you can catch the fab Jessie Chandler’s installment of the blog hop HERE. She posted Aug. 24th.

If Looks Could Kill

And, so you know the awesome, here are the other participants in this here cool series thingie by Ylva publishing.

And here’s what my contribution is all about:

Continue reading →

by Categories: Blog Hop, Blog Tour, New ReleasesTags: , , 1 Comment

HEY! REVIEWERS WANTED!

Hey, peeps!

My latest book is a longish novella called If Looks Could Kill and it is due out in August, but ARCs are available NOW.

If you’re interested in receiving an ARC — an advanced reading copy — which means you need to write a review, too — NOW is the time to sign up.

You can do that by hitting THIS LINK.

If Looks Could Kill — The Law Game Book 5

 

If Looks Could Kill

Eleanor “Ellie” O’Donnell is part of a special investigative unit within the New York City Police Department. Her latest assignment has her tasked with uncovering the relationship between internationally known fashion mogul and all-around ice queen Marya Hampstead and a local Russian crime family. As legendary for her business acumen and beauty as her uncompromising and unapproachable personality, Marya Hampstead is not a woman to cross.

Unfortunately for Ellie, the only way she can get close enough to conduct her investigation is by pretending to be an aspiring designer who takes an internship at Hampstead’s company. Definitely out of her element, Ellie has to put all her acting and investigative skills to work as she delves into what at first seems a simple case of occasional public outings with a man whose family has ties Hampstead might not know about.

But when Marya’s father, an international businessman, shows up in New York, it becomes clear that something else is going on, and that there’s much more to Marya Hampstead than meets the eye. The question is, how much more and how deep is Ellie willing to go to find out?

In the fast-paced world of clothes, critics, and competition, Ellie uncovers a lot more than runway gossip, including secrets that will kill far more than a bad outfit.

Books in the Law Game Series

ONE: Requiem for Immortals, by Lee Winter
TWO: Archer Securities, by Jove Belle
THREE: Daughter of Baal, by Gill McKnight
FOUR: Evolution of an Art Thief, by Jessie Chandler
FIVE: If Looks Could Kill, by Andi Marquette

SO WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO DO IF YOU RECEIVE AN ARC?

I’m glad you asked! Here’s the deal.

  • ARCs are proof copies. So if you find any technical errors while you’re reading along (e.g. missing punctuation or an extra word), please let me know, and thanks!
  • ARCs are typically sent directly to your Kindle. That allows me to keep track of what I send to who. ARCs are fun to give out, but I have to manage them appropriately. So it’s oh, so helpful if you have a Kindle address, too.
  • Ideally, it would be so awesome for reviews to go up on Amazon on release day, so please shoot for that. Goodreads should be available before that, and you can leave a review there at any time.
  • Please be honest in your reviews. Hey, I dig 5-star reviews as much as the next author, but the last thing I want is for someone to feel obligated to do that just because she received an ARC.

So if this is something you’d like to get in on, SIGN UP HERE and THANKS!

There is a space for your Kindle address on that signup form, but if you don’t know it yet, or you don’t have one, you still get to sign up for ARCs. So go ahead and fill out the rest of it.

ARCs are typically sent directly to your Kindle, and it helps me out to do that. If you have a Kindle but you don’t know what your Kindle address is, hit THIS LINK. It walks you through finding it. You’ll also need to make sure I’m an approved contact. You will find the instructions about how to do that at that link. Trust me. It’s not as scary as it sounds. 🙂

Here’s my email address to add me to your approved contact list:
andimarquette AT gmail DOT com
(AT = @ and DOT=.)

So if you have a Kindle address and you know it, you can just add it on that sign-up form. If you don’t have one, that’s fine. Fill out the form anyway and I’ll get you hooked up.

Thanks a bunch, everyone!

by Categories: New Books, New Releases, Reviewers, ReviewsTags: , , ,

Things I’m up to, including a forthcoming release and fanfic

Hiya, peeps!

Whew. So the Order Up blog tour wound down and we gave a bunch of copies away and hopefully introduced a bunch of you to some new authors.

Next week is crazy-time for a bunch of lesfic authors in the States, as we head to the GCLS conference. So I’ll be running around doing that. Tweeting and Facebooking and things, so if you’re unable to join us in person, well, you can still hang with us in spirit.

I also very quietly have been working on a long novella/short novel that is part of The Law Game series through Ylva Publshing.

Mine is If Looks Could Kill, and it’s Book 5. It’s due out in the next month or two. I’ll keep you posted.

If Looks Could Kill

Description:
Eleanor “Ellie” O’Donnell is part of a special investigative unit within the New York City Police Department. Her latest assignment has her tasked with uncovering the relationship between internationally known fashion mogul and all-around ice queen Marya Hampstead and a local Russian crime family. As legendary for her business acumen and beauty as her uncompromising and unapproachable personality, Marya Hampstead is not a woman to cross.

Unfortunately for Ellie, the only way she can get close enough to conduct her investigation is by pretending to be an aspiring designer who takes an internship at Hampstead’s company. Definitely out of her element, Ellie has to put all her acting and investigative skills to work as she delves into what at first seems a simple case of occasional public outings with a man whose family has ties Hampstead might not know about.

But when Marya’s father, an international businessman, shows up in New York, it becomes clear that something else is going on, and that there’s much more to Marya Hampstead than meets the eye. The question is, how much more and how deep is Ellie willing to go to find out?

In the fast-paced world of clothes, critics, and competition, Ellie uncovers a lot more than runway gossip, including secrets that will kill far more than a bad outfit.

Hope you’re interested in checking that out.

OH, and here’s a bit more news. You guys, I’ve just started posting my very first fanfic. I’m one of those obsessed with The 100. I’ve already blogged about the episode in season 3 that shall not be named here, and that is primarily what kicked me in the ass to actually do fanfic.

I have written fanfic in the past. Just not about TV shows and I’ve never posted it. I’ve used it as a writing exercise, to explore characterization and motives while playing in someone else’s world. Maybe that’s a weird form of cosplay. Heh.

At any rate, I am posting a Clexa fanfic, a chapter or two at a time, every week or 10 days or so, over at Archive of Our Own. The title of the work is “Grounded,” and I’m AndiLand or Andi Marquette over there, if you’re into Clexa fanfic.

How could you NOT fanfic this? I mean, for realz, yo!
How could you NOT fanfic this? I mean, for realz, yo!

All rightie. Happy weekending, everyone.

by Categories: fanfic, New Books, New Releases, News, Random WTF stuff, Things you might like, WritingTags: , , ,

ORDER UP BLOG TOUR with N.R. Dunham!

Hey, all!

Like I said. I went crazy over here on my blog with various authors who have stories in the just-released anthology Order Up: A Menu of Lesbian Romance & Erotica, edited by yers truly and R.G. Emanuelle.

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Today, we are joined by N.R. Dunham, who will share with you some background about her story, “A Twist of France.” She’s also included an excerpt, so dive right in and get you some. 🙂

Continue reading →

by Categories: Blog Tour, Blog Tours, New Releases, Things you might like, Writing, Writing LifeTags: , , ,

ORDER UP blog tour! Excerpt by Emma Weimann!

DARLINGS! It’s outta control up in here on this site. OUTTA CONTROL. We had Rebekah Weatherspoon, Jaye Markham, and now we’re having Emma Weimann!

I freaking love having all these people hanging out with me. Today we’ve got Emma Weimann, who scored a Goldie for her first novel, Heart’s Surrender.

Here, however, she’s got a story in Order Up: A Menu of Lesbian Romance & Erotica.

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In “Something Salty, Something Sweet,” Emma tells the story of two women who have been together a while but still find and make time for each other.

So I’ll turn it over to her, now, and let her serve you some delicious-ness.

Continue reading →

by Categories: Blog Tour, Excerpts, New Releases, Things you might like, WritingTags: , ,

ORDER UP with Rebekah Weatherspoon!

Hi, peeps!

Rebekah Weatherspoon got sucked into a vortex between dimensions and unfortunately, there’s no wifi there, so she couldn’t get her blog to us. Plus, you know, you guys. This week has been awful and terrible and horrible and we’re all still trying to get our footing as we grieve together and reach out for some luv.

I’m glad you stopped by.

Because below, you will find an excerpt from Rebekah’s story. I personally really dig it when Rebekah writes us a story because I never know what she’s got cooking (see what I did there?). In “Potluck Club,” her sense of humor really comes through.

cover_A_Order-Up_500x800

So without further ado, here’s an excerpt from that story, which appears in the brand new anthology, Order Up: A Menu of Lesbian Romance & Erotica.

Continue reading →

by Categories: Blog Tour, New Releases, Things you might likeTags: , ,

Cheri Crystal on the Order Up Blog Tour! Day 6 (GIVEAWAY!)

And the winner of an ebook copy of Order Up is…
drum roll…
Hayde!

Thanks for playing, everybody!

Hi, everybody!

So award-winning author Cheri Crystal stopped by my place to get in on the Order Up anthology fun-ness. She’s busy traipsing around France right now, so let’s all feel a pang of sadness for her…NOT! Let’s all wish her safe travels and hope that she’s having a blast. Which, from her Facebook posts, she is.

Before we get into Cheri’s story and excerpt, I’d like to take a moment to hold in comfort all who lost loved ones in Orlando yesterday and on Saturday. May we find our way out of this somehow, and may we not lose sight of who we are, as members of all the communities in which we live, love, and work.

Thank you.

And now, let’s get into Cheri Crystal’s blog. Welcome, Cheri, and thanks for joining us on this here tour. In honor of your stopping by,

I’m GIVING AWAY YET ANOTHER EBOOK COPY OF ORDER UP! Just leave me a comment below and YOU’RE IN! Make sure you include your email address in the comment fill-out form, but not in the comment body. We don’t want spambots to find you and do icky things with your email address. We’ll draw a random winner on THURSDAY, JUNE 16 at 9 PM EST! And who knows? Sometimes the merry elves from Women and Words pop over to my site and give out extra copies…you never know…

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OMG I love blog tours…

In Cheri’s story, “Clinch It with Coleslaw,” a woman and her two young children spend the summer in a cabin in a place that includes summer camp for kids. Their neighbor is another woman — this one a caterer, who’s there with her older kids. Let’s just say sparks fly between these two women, and so do summer recipes for love.

Take it away, Cheri!
______________
Continue reading →

by Categories: Blog Tour, New Releases, Stuff going on, Things you might like, WritingTags: , , , 8 Comments

Order Up Blog Tour! Day 1!

And the winners of an ebook copy of Order Up are…
Danielle and
elizaanderson

Thanks, everybody, for playing and for joining us on the Order Up blog tour!

Hi, kids! I’m kicking off this here blog tour, which begins today and ends June 24th (excluding weekends). Every author in my co-edited (with R.G. Emanuelle) anthology Order Up: A Menu of Lesbian Romance & Erotica (Ylva Publishing) will be blogging about their story that appears in this, a food- and love/sex/romance-themed anthology. There’ll be giveaways, excerpts, and the stories behind the stories.

cover_A_Order-Up_500x800

HERE, my friends, is the TABLE OF CONTENTS.

In honor of this awesome-ness, I’m giving away TWO EBOOK COPIES of ORDER UP! If you want in on this fun-ness, leave a comment below! Make sure you include your email address in the comment fill-out form (NOT in the comment body). We’ll draw the winners FRIDAY JUNE 10th AT 10 PM EST.

THE SCHEDULE for this blog tour:

June 6: Andi Marquette, blogging at her site (The Situation Room).
June 7: Jove Belle, blogging at her site.
June 8: Cheyenne Blue, blogging at her site.
June 9: Brey Willows, blogging at her site.
June 10: Lea Daley, blogging at R.G. Emanuelle’s site.

June 13: Cheri Crystal, blogging at Andi Marquette’s site.
June 14: CK Combs, blogging at Butchtastic.net.
June 15: Liz McMullen, blogging at her site.
June 16: Marie Sterling, blogging at R.G. Emanuelle‘s site.
June 17: Rebekah Weatherspoon, blogging at her site.

June 20: Jaye Markham, blogging at Andi Marquette‘s site.
June 21: Emma Weimann, at Andi Marquette‘s site
June 22: N.R. Dunham, blogging at Andi’s site.
June 23: Pascal Scott, at R.G. Emanuelle‘s site.
June 24: R.G. Emanuelle, blogging at her site.

So let me tell you the story behind “The Secret’s in the Sauce,” my story in this here anthology, about Van, a woman who takes her best friend Terry to the emergency room because Terry had a slight cooking accident that involved marinara and it required a little bit of medical attention. The thing is, the doctor at the emergency room might also have some attention to give to Van, if Van is open to it. 😀

Continue reading →

by Categories: Blog Tour, New Releases, Things you might like, Ylva PublishingTags: , 21 Comments