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Flashback: Big Sky SEAL (Contest–2 Winners!)
Tuesday, May 13th, 2025

Before there were bounty hunters, there were SEALs. And I loved writing my Uncharted SEALs series. All those rugged, alpha heroes and strong heroines. Humor. Action. Spicy sex. All the ingredients that make stories fun for me to write, and hopefully, fun for you to read.

With Uncharted SEALs, I experimented a bit. For the first time, I did sequels with the same characters—for the simple reason I couldn’t say goodbye to them. I wanted to see inside their Happy-Ever-Afters. Through Her Eyes and Between a SEAL and a Hard Place share the same main characters, as do Dream of Me and Heart of a SEAL.

Big Sky SEAL gave birth to my Montana Bounty Hunters, introducing Jamie and Reaper, who, as a result of their work in Big Sky, earned their own satellite office of MBH. A fun theme I used in two of the stories was a cruise ship. Both Before We Kiss and Hard SEAL to Love are set on the same ship and have the same supporting characters. Plus, Hard SEAL to Love features a disabled female vet!

This time, I’d like you to read the very fun introduction of Big Sky SEAL.

Enjoy!

Watch Over Me   
*~*
Baby, It's You Before We Kiss Special Forces: Operation Alpha: Between a SEAL and a Hard Place 
*~*
  Head Over SEAL 

Click on the covers to learn more!

Contest

Win your choice of one of my Uncharted SEALs stories! There will be 2 winners! All you have to do to enter is answer me this…

Do you still like alpha hero stories, featuring ex-military men? What’s one you’ve read recently you really enjoyed?

Big Sky SEAL

Romance sparks between a bounty hunter and a SEAL on the hunt for an escaped terrorist…

A former military police dog handler, Jamie Burke, along with her former bomb dog Tessa, are still trying to adjust to civilian life. With a jaded, testy personality, Jamie has few friends. Now, a bounty hunter, she’s tasked to help federal and local law enforcement search for an escaped terrorist in the Crazy Mountains of Montana.

Former SEAL, Sky Reynolds can’t believe Jamie Burke is part of the task force. The last time he saw her was in Afghanistan. Back then, he thought he’d never stand a chance with the pretty, ballsy blonde, sure she had someone waiting for her back home. But here she is, still single, still prickly as hell. Assigned to stick close to her and her dog Tessa during the hunt, he’ll use the situation to get close. This time, he’s not letting her slip away.

When Jamie’s captured by the terrorist, it’s up to Sky, his fellow SEALs, and her motley crew of bounty hunters to save her…

Excerpt from Big Sky SEAL

According to the satellite image, Mosby’s cousin’s crude hunting shack stood in an isolated clearing deep in a woodsy area at the foothills of the Salish Mountains. Jamie Burke and her partner for this takedown, Reaper Stenberg, parked their SUV a quarter mile down the gravel road leading to the Montana cabin.

Lock and load time. Jamie drew deep slow breaths to slow her heart, while getting her head “in the zone”. They were going after a badass. A mistake could turn deadly.

Reaper opened the back hatch of the SUV and reached into their bag of weapons and gear.

First, they donned Kevlar jackets. Jamie clipped her badge onto her web belt and slid her Glock into the holster strapped to her leg. Then Reaper held out a shotgun with an orange stock.

She glared. “Seriously? You expect me to take down Mosby with a bean bag round?”

“I don’t expect you to take down a damn thing, other than notes.” He smirked. “I’ll handle Mosby. If he gets past me, you nail him in the gut with this.” His glacier-blue eyes narrowed. “Your Glock is your last resort. You’ll be coming through the back of the cabin. Think I’d trust you with real bullets when I’ll be in the line of fire?”

“I’m a better shot than you,” she muttered, thinking of her last weapons qualification test and the ten tightly grouped shots in the circle around the heart on her target.

“On the range. This is the real world, sweet cheeks.”

She crimped her mouth and loaded a bean bag round into the chamber of her weapon, then stuffed two more shells into the pockets of her jeans. The rounds, intended to disable rather than kill, were filled with fabric “pillows” containing birdshot. Although his caution made sense, she couldn’t let him know she was relieved to carry non-lethal rounds—she’d seen enough death and never wanted to kill again. The fact he didn’t trust her aim—or, perhaps, her nerves—rankled. Still, they’d be inside close quarters, and the “non-lethal” round was far more dangerous than when used, as recommended, to hit targets twenty to sixty feet away.

Didn’t matter to Reaper that she was ex-military and knew her way around firearms. Since being discharged, she’d caught a desk at Montana Bounty Hunters, learning the ropes of the paperwork end of the job, and training with the agency’s owner, “Fetch” Winter, until he’d felt comfortable letting her ride shotgun with his most experienced hunter.

From the moment Fetch told Reaper she was his responsibility, he’d been on her ass. No doubt Reaper hoped she’d quit inside a week, but she was entering her second week and rather enjoying the fact her stubborn acceptance of his constant snarky disses annoyed the crap out of him. She’d weathered similar, un-PC comments during her time in the military. They rolled off her back like rain off a duck’s ass.

Lastly, he handed her an earpiece and inserted his own. “Testing,” he whispered. When she took her time responding, he raised an eyebrow. “You got it turned on?”

She raised her hand and shot him the bird. “I heard you loud and clear.”

He hefted a battering ram with one huge hand and rested it on his shoulder then passed over a lock pick kit. “Don’t keep me waiting. As soon as you’re in place, I’ll knock down the door.”

“Shouldn’t we make sure he’s inside first?”

He scowled. “Think I’m a rookie, rookie? Peek in a window on your way. And don’t get your head shot off.”

“Geez, I’d almost think you cared,” she said, giving him a sly grin and a wink.

His expression remained stony.

The time was mid-afternoon, still plenty of light, but she knew he was too impatient to get this catch-and-release finished. They’d already logged ten days on the road, interviewing Mosby’s high school buddies, family members, and former cellmates. A girlfriend who was pissed Mosby was willing to let her car be taken, part of the collateral of his bail bond, mentioned the hunting cabin. After a quick trip to a local Bureau of Land Management office that morning, they had what they hoped was their first break in this case.

They jogged down the quarter mile track to the edge of the clearing. She stayed close to his heels while his long blond ponytail flapped down his back. Not for the first time, she noted his broad shoulders and powerful build. If only he wasn’t such a dick to work with… When they halted, she noted the rusty white pickup parked next to the porch. Someone was home.

Reaper gave her a curt nod then broke left following the tree line, while she kept to the brush to the right, until she was midway down the long side of the shotgun shack. With her heart rate kicking higher, she edged carefully toward a window and shot upward to glance inside.

A man sat in the shadows of a living room in a ratty easy chair, watching TV.

She edged upward again, quickly studied his profile, then crouched to pull the bench warrant from her back pocket to check out their target’s picture. Same bald head and heavy brows, same black tribal tattoo climbing up his shoulder from under his grubby white wife beater to wrap around his neck. “It’s him,” she whispered. “In the living room. Front door’s ten feet from his chair.”

“Is he armed?”

“Didn’t see a weapon. I’m heading to the back door.” She kept close to the side of the house, came around the back, and then halted when she noted the modified back door. “Big damn dog door,” she whispered. “I didn’t see a dog.”

“Good. Door saves us both some time. Get your ass inside, Burke.”

Jamie knelt, lifted the rubber flap, and peeked inside. Still no dog in sight. Tightening her mouth, she pushed her weapon through first, angled her hips, and crawled into the opening, her hands sliding on greasy tile. “I’m inside,” she whispered as she lay sprawled on a floor that smelled like onions and beer. Did the guy use the floor to fry his hamburgers?

“On three,” came Reaper’s raspy whisper. “One…two…three…”

As she shoved to her feet, she heard a distant crash as the wooden front door splintered, and then the clatter of nails on linoleum from a room just beyond the kitchen. She rushed through the doorway into a bedroom just as a short, very muscular brindle pit bull jumped onto the mattress, heading in the most direct path toward her. She darted into a bathroom, climbed onto the toilet seat, then the small counter. When the dog stood on his hind legs, snapping at her boots, she leapt toward the doorway and slammed the door closed, trapping him inside.

The dog thudded heavily against the wood and then barked like a hellhound.

The sound of furniture thudding came from the next room. Something glass hit the floor and shattered. Muffled grunts and curses sounded.

“Bastard, stay down!” Reaper shouted.

Speeding toward the living room, Jamie halted when she saw Daniel Mosby with Reaper hanging on their target’s back, his arm around his neck in a chokehold.

The two large men hit one side of the doorframe then the other. Mosby’s face was red, his teeth bared. Three inches taller and burlier than Reaper, Mosby kept moving.

Pulse racing, she backed up toward the kitchen doorway.

“Shoot him, Burke!” Reaper growled. “Shoot the fucker!”

Sucking in a breath, she raised her shotgun, aimed for Mosby’s large belly, and pulled the trigger.

Mosby grunted, his black eyes widened, and he screamed, despite the arm cinching his thick neck. And despite the direct hit, he kept coming.

She backed up into the kitchen, sure Mosby would drop any second, but he lunged toward a wall, slamming Reaper against it. Reaper’s hold loosened.

Mosby shook him off and aimed an elbow behind him, catching Reaper in the chin as he went down. Mosby’s dark gaze locked with hers, and he rushed forward.

With no time to load another round in the shotgun, she considered her Glock, but that was her last resort.

Brains over brawn—a cliché that had served her well in tighter situations. The bastard was big and lumbered toward her like a bear. Likely his size intimidated most men, but she wasn’t a man. And she wasn’t scared. Although she was good at pretending fear. She widened her eyes and sank into a crouch, raising a hand as though to cover her head.

Behind Mosby, Reaper groaned. “Goddammit, Burke. Use your fucking weapon!”

But she had a better idea. Killing was easy. And Mosby had sworn he’d never be caught, never spend another day in prison. She wanted the sorry asshole to spend years thinking about the fact he’d been bested by a woman.

As he rushed her, she kept her feet flat on the greasy floor and ducked to the side. Just as he came within reach, she swept out a foot and tripped him. On his way toward the dirty tile, she spun and clocked him in the back of the head with the butt of her shotgun.

He hit the floor hard, arms sprawled from his sides, and didn’t move.

Before he could stir again, she stuck a knee in his lower back, pulled back one meaty arm, and latched a cuff around his thick wrist, then repeated the action with the other. When he was secured, she shot to her feet and stood over him, at last withdrawing her Glock from its holster to point toward his ass in case he roused. She shot a quick glance over her shoulder at Reaper. “You through napping?”

“Bitch,” he wheezed from the floor.

“He wasn’t armed. What’s your excuse?”

Reaper sat and leaned against the kitchen wall, working his jaw side to side. He winced. “I was just softening him up for you, babe. Nice takedown, by the way.”

And then he smiled—a real smile, not his usual one-sided smirk. She grinned, relieved that at last he saw her worth. “I’m still too scrawny to get his ass to our vehicle. You rested?”

He chuckled and pushed upward, not hiding a groan as he straightened. “Wait until I tell Fetch. He said you were a firecracker, and that I shouldn’t count you out in a fight.”

Gabbi Grey: Challenge Accepted (Contest)
Monday, May 12th, 2025

Hello, Delilah! Thank you for welcoming me here to share my new release!

So if 2024 was the year of saying hell, yes!, 2025 is turning out to be the year of hell, yes! (and I might also need to have my head examined…)

I’ll explain. I have so many projects in various stages that it’s brutal to keep track. My trusty spreadsheet does, thank God. Okay, so how’d I wind up writing Unlocked and Unlost? Well, I participate in a special promo every month. The creators of the promo (with prizes) gave us a theme per month: age-gap, sports, small-town, friends-to-lovers, fated mates, etc.

Great!

Except I didn’t have a friends-to-lovers book or a fated mates story. Did that stop me from signing up? Of course not! I just figured I’d write books I’d already committed to with these plot lines. Not really different than signing up for themed anthologies – and we all know how many of those I’ve done. Now, a friend who knows about such things said fated mates had to be shifters. I was like… OH. CRAP.

Never fear! I found a wolf shifter cover and asked Plot Whisperer for help! She wrote this extensive and really amazing plot. And I went…oh, wow. It’s awesome. But it didn’t speak to me. I wasn’t compelled. But I can write just about anything, so I figured I had my assignment.

One day, she and I were chatting, and she said how she’s read that raccoons could pick locks. She said I should write a raccoon shifter locksmith.

I said sure, and could he get together with a squirrel shifter, and could we set the story in my owl shifter universe?

She said, I don’t see why not.

An hour later, we had the plot for my novella.

Yes, that simple. We had a grumpy/sunshine, age-gap, opposites-attract, racoon/squirrel shifter gay romcom romance. Because…why not?

I wrote the story for another project, but that didn’t pan out, and I’d bought the most amazing cover and I figured…why not publish it? My editor loved it and said she’d never quite read something like it before. That’s the general consensus of early reviews – never seen this done in this way. Now, some adore the book and some find it irritating. I’m not supposed to read my reviews – but sometimes I can’t help myself.

Okay, so that’s the story! I have my fated mates. I also have probably the funniest story I’ve ever written. Something well beyond the angst I used to be known for. I don’t know how all my readers will react, but I do try to keep them on their toes.

Anyway, thank you for letting me visit today and share my news! I would love to give a prize to a commenter! Do you believe in fated mates? Have you read a shifter story? I’ll admit I’d read a few and dragons are my favorite, but my squirrel is pretty darn cute. Leave a comment and you might win a $5 Amazon Gift card. Random will pick the winner. Good luck!

Unlocked and Unlost

Kingston

I love being a locksmith. I help people fix their lives when things go awry. A badly sprained ankle has me laid up, but I dislike being idle, so a friend suggests I hire an assistant. Little do I know how truly chaotic my life is about to become. Although he’s cute, it never occurs to me just how important he might become in my life.

Ethan

I’ve held a series of jobs since graduating from business college, but none has captured my attention. Assisting a grouchy locksmith proves to be one of the more interesting challenges. When I discover something truly astounding about him, my entire world view changes.

Unlocked and Unlost is an opposites attract, grumpy/sunshine, age gap, paranormal shifter gay romance with a stodgy racoon shifter and the glorious squirrel shifter fated mate he didn’t see coming.

Links:
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Unlocked-Unlost-Gabbi-Grey-ebook/dp/B0F2GNDJ99
Add it to GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/230582161-unlocked-and-unlost
Universal Book Link: https://books2read.com/UnlockedUnlost

About the Author

USA Today Bestselling author Gabbi Grey lives in beautiful British Columbia where her fur baby chin-poo keeps her safe from the nasty neighborhood squirrels. Working for the government by day, she spends her early mornings writing contemporary, gay, sweet, and dark erotic BDSM romances. While she firmly believes in happy endings, she also believes in making her characters suffer before finding their true love. She also writes m/f romances as Gabbi Black and Gabbi Powell.

Personal links:
Website: https://gabbigrey.com/
Newsletter sign-up: https://sendfox.com/gabbigrey
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorgabbigrey/
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/gabbi-grey
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15456297.Gabbi_Grey
Amazon Author Central: https://www.amazon.com/Gabbi-Grey/e/B07SJVFX1M
Audible Profile: https://www.audible.com/author/Gabbi-Grey/B07SJVFX1M
Facebook (page): https://www.facebook.com/AuthorGabbiGrey

Happy Mother’s Day/Report Card and Open Contests!
Sunday, May 11th, 2025

Happy Mother’s Day!

To all you mothers out there…

I was spoiled by my family, but my favorite gift has to be this one!

She’s holding a box of popcorn and a popsicle (my two favorite snacks!) and that white thing lying on its side in front is a little ghost—because I find them everywhere. LOL! I’m thankful my dd decided to give me gray hair rather than leave me bald.

Report Card

Last week…

    1. I worked on two authors’ edits.
    2. I found photos for the anthology of short stories I’m getting ready to release by the end of this month—my next Ultra Strokes book.
    3. I went to my optometrist to update my glasses prescription. Chemo did substantially change my eyesight.
    4. I’m feeling better every day. I feel stronger every day.
    5. I’ve continued painting and trying to catch up with #the100dayproject challenge. This was my favorite piece for the week.

This next week…

  1. I will complete two authors’ edits and begin work on two more!
  2. I’ll select short stories and begin assembling my next Ultra compilation for publication.
  3. I’ll be attending my local art guild’s meeting this Thursday night! Woot!
  4. I’ll continue trying to catch up with #thedayproject schedule.

Open Contests

Be sure to check out these posts and enter to win the prizes that are still up for grabs:

    1. April Into May (Contest) — Last day to enter! Win an Amazon gift card!
    2. Gabbi Grey: Found Family (Contest) — Last day to enter! Win a FREE book!
    3. Anna Taylor Sweringen/Michal Scott: Laura Wheeler Waring – A Missionary of Culture — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
    4. Saturday Puzzle-Contest: Happy Astronomy Day! — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
    5. Flashback: Lone Star Lovers — Four-Gone Conclusion (Contest–2 Winners!) — Win a FREE book!
    6. Word Search: My Summer Binge List (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
    7. Gabbi Powell: Finding Acceptance in Different Places (Contest) — Win FREE books!
    8. Story Cubes — Tell me a story (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
    9. Saturday Puzzle-Contest: Chickens — Win an Amazon gift card!
Saturday Puzzle-Contest: Chickens
Saturday, May 10th, 2025

Our family is a bit obsessed with chickens.

Back when egg prices started to rise, we decided to raise our own chickens again. It’s been a couple of years at least now. We have mature hens that are producing eggs, and we decided to raise some more chicks this year to make sure we keep the population going. We have a pen with a shed we outfitted as a chicken coop, so they’re safe when we put them up at night, but they’re free to roam the very roomy pen area during the day. We feed them chicken food and table scraps. We’re lucky we’ve had few predator intrusions. This past week, we lost Barbara, who was sitting on a nest of eggs, to a predator, our first loss in quite a while—and yes, all the birds have names. We were sad about that because we were really looking forward to the chicks she was going to have. She produced smallish blue eggs.

The new chicks are being cared for in the basement of the house, so yes, I can hear them chirping in the distance. We have a box on stilts we built (er, the SIL built) and a warming lamp suspended over it. They are attended to several times a day.

We have a very diverse population of chickens because we love how they look and love the variety of colored eggs we get. We have Easter eggers, barred rocks, white leghorns crossed with black Sussex, Rhode Island reds, black and blue copper marans, sexlinks (weird name, I know), and red leghorns.

When the chickens are laying steadily, we produce more than we can eat, so we gift them to folks at my SIL’s police department, neighbors, my brother across the street. The eggs themselves are so much more flavorful than what you get in the grocery store, and the yolks are a brilliant yellow-orange. And yes, the outlay to set up a coup, purchase the chickens, and feed them is expensive, but my daughter and SIL, along with help from the children, all pitch in to share the workload. Most of the chickens remain in their enclosure, but we have three chickens, The Sandersons (yes, named for the witches in Hocus Pocus) and Raven (she’s all black), who jump the fence and like to hang with us outside on the patio.

To be clear, I have nothing to do with raising the chickens, but I do enjoy the results!

Anyway, the photo for the puzzle isn’t of our chickens—ours are like I said before, more diverse. However, I was thinking about the chickens as I was trying to come up with a topic for today’s puzzle, and the chicks were chirping loudly, so…

For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, solve the puzzle and tell me whether you have ever raised chickens or would if you could. I know some folks in the suburbs are getting those mini-coups for their backyards. Let me know if you like the idea of fresh eggs and critters in the yard!

*~*~*

My daughter was a little irked I hadn’t included pictures of our friendly trio, The Sandersons and Raven. So, here they are hanging out.

Krysten Lindsay Hager: YA Pop Star Romance That’s Free for a Limited Time (F*R*E*E Read)
Friday, May 9th, 2025

If you like books that help you escape during a tough time, you might like my Cecily Taylor Series about a high school girl who gets a chance to have her dreams come true when she ends up an extra in her favorite singer/songwriter Andrew Holiday’s music video. From there, she begins an acting and modeling career as well as dating the singer, but she soon sees what a different world Andrew lives in. Can two teens from different worlds make it work? You can pick up book one of the three-book series for free for a limited time.

Cecily has always had a huge crush on singer Andrew Holiday and she wants to be an actress, so she tags along when her friend auditions for his new video. However, the director isn’t looking for an actress, but rather the girl next door—and so is Andrew. Cecily gets a part in the video and all of Andrew’s attention on the set. Her friend begins to see red and Cecily’s boyfriend is seeing green—as in major jealousy. A misunderstanding leaves Cecily and her boyfriend on the outs and Andrew hopes to pick up the pieces as he’s looking for someone more stable in his life than the models he’s dated. Soon Cecily begins to realize Andrew understands her more than her small-town boyfriend—but can her perfect love match really be her favorite rock star?

***Pick up book one for free for a limited time. Book 2 and 3 of the series are in Kindle Unlimited:

Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Can-Dreams-Come-True-Cecily-ebook/dp/B09VYS5G3S
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Can-Dreams-Come-True-Cecily-ebook/dp/B09VYS5G3S/

Amazon AUS: https://www.amazon.com.au/Can-Dreams-Come-True-Cecily-ebook/dp/B09VYS5G3S
Amazon CAN: https://www.amazon.ca/Can-Dreams-Come-True-Cecily-ebook/dp/B09VYS5G3S

Amazon GER: https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Krysten-Lindsay-Hager-ebook/dp/B09VYS5G3S

About the Author

Krysten is an author, blogger, and podcast guest host for Michigan Avenue Media. She writes about friendship, dating, self-esteem, fitting in, fame, and values. Her work includes YA contemporary books, new adult, and middle grade fiction. Krysten’s book, Cecily in the City, won the 2023 Readers’ Favorite Award for best young adult romance. Her debut novel, True Colors, won the Readers’ Favorite award for best preteen book as well as the Dayton Book Expo Bestseller Award for children/teens. Competing with the Star is a Readers’ Favorite Book Award Finalist. Best Friends…Forever? is a 2019 Readers’ Favorite Silver Medal Winner. Landry in Like is a Literary Classics Gold Medal recipient and a 2020 Readers’ Favorite Bronze Medal Winner. Can Dreams Come True and True Colors are both Wishing Book Shelf Finalists. She received her BA in English and master’s degree from the University of Michigan-Flint.

Krysten’s work has been featured in USA Today, The Flint Journal, the Grand Haven Tribune, the Beavercreek Current, the Bellbrook Times, Springfield News-Sun, Grand Blanc View, Dayton Daily News and on Living Dayton. She is a frequent guest host on the Michigan Avenue Media podcast.

Follow Krysten:
Website: https://www.krystenlindsay.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/krystenlindsay/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@krystenlindsay
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/krystenlindsay/

Story Cubes — Tell me a story (Contest)
Thursday, May 8th, 2025

Let’s play!IMG_8426

I bought this little brainstorming tool years ago at some writers’ conference. “Story Cubes” is a brainstorming game. You roll the dice, and whatever pictures appear face-up are the ones you use to riff off a story.

You can try to include all the cubes in your “story” or choose a few. The story you tell doesn’t have to be long or even any good. They all count!

To make this fun, I’ll offer a prize—a $5 Amazon gift card—good for purchasing one or two stories…
Have fun with this! Don’t overthink! Here’s the roll…

Gabbi Powell: Finding Acceptance in Different Places (Contest)
Wednesday, May 7th, 2025

Hello, Delilah! Thank you for inviting me to discuss a topic near and dear to my heart. When I read my first ‘romance’ in 1986, the world was a very different place. I put romance in quotes because Judy Blume’s Forever doesn’t have a traditional happy ending. Or maybe it does. What’s traditional anyway?

Forty years later, I have a very different perspective on “romance.”

I put pen to paper first in 1996 to try to write my own romance.  I discovered I wanted to give my heroine a happy ending. Now, I was going to put her through hell first…but I’d give her a happily ever after (before I’d even heard that term).  I managed to finish a full novel in 2012 and sent that off to a publisher, believing, of course, they’d want my brilliance (spoiler alert – they didn’t).  Around that time, I got my first eReader.  My world exploded.  I had no idea such wonderful things existed! All these books! And some free! (Which I didn’t understand at the time, but I do now.)  I binged.  I found authors I’d never heard of. I found subgenres I’d never considered (hello, I see you BDSM).  One story I grabbed was by Ava March.

A gay romance.

Nothing earth-shattering happened when I read the story.  I thought, hey that was good.  What else does she have? And I read a bunch of others.  And then I found another author I was interested in and I moved on.  Being gay wasn’t a big deal to me.  Having gay friends wasn’t a big deal.  Hell, we’d already had gay marriage for about half-a-dozen years in Canada.

I kept reading and writing and trying to get published.

Eventually, I realized I needed help with that journey.  I met a freelance editor in a reader/writer chat and hired her.  She tackled the task of making me a better writer.

Even she’ll admit the task was an uphill battle.

What can I say? I didn’t know what I didn’t know.

She taught me.

Soon after we connected, though, she recommended a couple of authors whom she adored and who she thought I could learn from.  Authors of gay romance.  Completely unfazed, I grabbed everything those authors had as an audiobook.  And listened. And fell in love.  And then bought more. And listened more. And fell harder.

Somewhere along the way, that editor sent me back manuscripts with TONS of red ink.  But I read the comments, tried to learn from the corrections, and endeavored to be a better writer.

But my love of gay romance had been solidified.  Eventually, I joined a review blog, and, to this day, I write reviews for gay romances I listen to.

This all came naturally to me.  Being gay isn’t a huge deal in my world.  But I understand that it is for lots of people.  I am cognizant of the battle many have endured – and what struggles many still face.  I get that the world is a scary place.

What I’ve always tried to be is an ally.  I didn’t know much about that in high school, but I started to meet more people in university who showed me what allyship looked like.  I’ve endeavored to always be a safe space for people.  At work, I had a symbol in my cubicle that let co-workers know I was a friend to all members of the Rainbow.  I’ve tried to extend that to be as welcoming as I can to everyone.

What does this look like in my writing?  Remember that first romance I tried to write? Back in 1996? Still not finished and needs to be completely rewritten? The heroine’s best friend was a gay man who was in a committed relationship with another man. It never occurred to me that might be controversial.

Since then? Every character, aside from those who are purposefully portrayed as hateful, are casually or actively allies to gay folk.  Sometimes that allyship is proactive, and sometimes it’s just there in the background.  The point is, I know language can hurt. I’m always so careful.  And I have sensitivity and beta readers who try to catch my mistakes.  But I do my damnest to ensure I’m moving my writing forward.

Now, I write gay romances. I also write bisexual romances, lesbian romances, pansexual romances, and romances between men and women.  Truthfully, I write a lot.  What I try to do, under the pennames who write primarily male/female romances, is to find ways to make connections.  So if there isn’t a POC as a lead character in one book, you can be pretty sure I have them as secondary characters – often heading toward books of their own.  I often have queer characters – often heading toward books of their own.  These stories, though, give me the opportunity to show what active allyship looks like.

Two stories I’ve written recently fall into that category. Josette, from Josette and the Count could be forgiven if she was a little jaded.  The boy that the world always assumed she was going to marry turned out to be gay and chose her brother instead.  Now, Josette’s pretty swift and had, somewhere along the way, read the writing on the wall.  In fact, she wound up bringing them together and giving them her blessing.  Full-throated allyship.

Kendra, from High on Love, also has a gay brother.  An overbearing, impossible, annoying-as-shit brother.  He drives her nuts.  But she’s ticked off at him and no matter how irritated she gets, she would never use the fact he’s gay against him in any way.  And, in fact, when Noel meets someone he might actually not be antagonistic toward, sister Kendra is happy to shoo him in that person’s direction.  She loves her brother – she just wishes he wasn’t always trying to boss her around. (In truth, he’s got reasons for being overprotective, but that’s for another day.)

Casual allyship. Vocal allyship.  Friendship. Loving and caring.

These are all things my gay characters are so deserving of in their lives.

In fact, it’s something everyone is deserving of.

That’s my story of how I’ve been an ally since I first put pen to paper in any serious way.

Thanks, Delilah, for inviting me here to talk about another aspect of my storytelling. I would love to hear from your readers. What was the first romance they remember reading?  I tried Danielle Steele before moving to category romance where I stayed for years (hence the first book I ever tried to sell being a category romance). Let me know!  One lucky commenter – chosen by Random – will win copies of High on Love, Josette and the Count, and A Touch of Cowboy. (Or another book from my back catalogue.) Good luck!

Josette and the Count

An interior decorating job in a genuine ancient Romanian castle was supposed to be the opportunity of Josette Fogal’s life. Instead, she winds up pregnant, dumped, and running home to Mission City to stay with her brother while she sorts out the mess of her life. As the birth of the baby nears, Anton Deva, her baby daddy, shows up at her doorstep—asking for a second chance. Josette has a lot of big decisions to make, and not much time to get them right. Anton’s the kind of tall, muscular, debonair man she always falls for and he’s saying all the right things, but can she ever trust him again?

Links:
UBL:  https://books2read.com/Josette
Amazon US:  https://www.amazon.com/Josette-Count-Cedar-Valley-Short-ebook/dp/B0F3MPSPNN
Add it to GoodReads:  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/230969899-josette-and-the-count

High on Love

Kendra Barker’s a long way from her Canadian home. Her road trip has landed her and her 1983 Harley in Cataluma, California, but she only plans to stay long enough to rest, maybe make a few dollars, and enjoy the Strawberry Festival. As a bonus, the one place she finds to stay is an empty apartment with a super sexy landlord.

Javier Fernandez has been cruising through life on autopilot. His marijuana shop is doing well. His mother is, for the most part, under control and managing her job as mayor of his beloved Cataluma. Now, he just needs to get this pesky Canadian woman out of his head. He gave her a place to sleep, and he very much wants to be in her bed, but come the end of the weekend, she’ll be moving on. Javier doesn’t do one-nighters and he doesn’t want to deal with a broken heart. Long-distance, and cross-borders is a recipe for disaster, right?

High on Love is a 39k word small-town interracial romance novella with a tattooed heroine, a stoic hero, and the love affair that’ll change their lives forever.

Links:
UBL:  https://books2read.com/High
Amazon US:  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BZ2M8Z4G
Add it to GoodReads:  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/125352653-high-on-love

About the Author

Gabbi Powell has been a lover of romance since she first put pen to paper in the eighth grade to write her first romance.  She writes her novels while living in Beautiful British Columbia with her trusty ChinPoo dog a as companion.  She also writes gay romances as Gabbi Grey and contemporary dark erotic BDSM novels as Gabbi Black.

Personal links:
Website:   http://gabbipowell.com/
Newsletter sign-up: https://sendfox.com/gabbipowell
Bookbub:  https://www.bookbub.com/profile/3142441314
Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/authorgabbipowell/
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Gabbi-Powell/e/B08T8NTQNY
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21065056.Gabbi_Powell