Shira Anthony's Blog - Posts Tagged "blue-notes"

For the last day of the Romance and Manga Blog Hop, I thought I’d share an excerpt from my upcoming release, “The Melody Thief (Blue Notes #2).” Release date is 8/24/12 from Dreamspinner Press. This is from Chapter Four. A little background – Antonio rescues Cary from a mugging on a Milan street and offers Cary spend the night at his place so there’s someone to watch him after he suffers a concussion. Cary wakes up the next morning to a little complication.

Don’t forget to leave a comment at www.shiraanthony.com to be entered to win a copy of one of my Dreamspinner Press titles (including “Blue Notes,” the first in the series). Also be sure to enter the grand prize drawing and check out all the other participating blogs at http://www.hayleybjames.com/2012/06/b...!

July has been a great month in so many ways! It started out with my submitting the third Blue Notes Series book to Dreamspinner Press and wonderful critical reviews of my latest DSP release, The Trust, which I co-authored with my old friend Venona Keyes. Jessewave called The Trust "science fiction at its best!" Not to mention the wonderful vacation with my husband of 20 years in the Caribbean where we both got open water certification in scuba diving.

Last week, I had the pleasure of spending time writing with my good friend and fellow DSP author, E.M. Lynley. We're working on an exciting joint project. Our week together ended with two new contracts from Dreamspinner - one for each of us! Oh, and yummy ginger martinis E.m. invented.

This week started with me receiving the final artwork for the cover of my upcoming release, The Melody Thief, the second in the Blue Notes series. Release date for Thief is August 24th, so check my website, http://www.shiraanthony.com, in the upcoming weeks for excerpts and contests.

Of course, I'm still working on several other projects, including the planned fourth book in the Blue Notes series, Prelude. It's always good to be busy, but it's great to sit back and just smile when the hard work pays off! -Shira

Happy Friday everyone! Less than a month to go now to the release of "The Melody Thief," the second novel in the Blue Notes Series, on August 24, 2012. To celebrate the upcoming release, I've got two contests going for copies of the book.

First contest: Enter to win a free paperback copy of "The Melody Thief" (autographed, if you wish!) on Goodreads (just scroll down the page and you'll see "Win a Copy of this Book"). This one is only open to U.S. residents 18+. Contest ends on August 23rd.

Second contest: Enter to win a free ebook copy of "The Melody Thief" (format of your choice) from the Dreamspinner Press website. To enter, just comment on one of my blogs (www.shiraanthony.com or Goodreads). 18+ only (or the legal age for adults in your home country). Contest ends at midnight on August 23, 2012.

Also ongoing is a contest to win a paperback copy of my current release, "The Trust." Enter on Goodreads, as well. Same deal - scroll down and you'll see the section entitled "Win a Copy of this Book."

Want to read an excerpt of "The Melody Thief?" Just click here, then click "more" and scroll down for the "Excerpt" tab. You'll also find links to "Extras" for the book - in this case, a listing of the music from the book and where you can hear it (under construction). In the meantime, here's the blurb:

Cary Redding is a walking contradiction. On the surface he’s a renowned cellist, sought after by conductors the world over. Underneath, he’s a troubled man flirting with addictions to alcohol and anonymous sex. The reason for the discord? Cary knows he’s a liar, a cheat. He's the melody thief.

Cary manages his double life just fine until he gets mugged on a deserted Milan street. Things look grim until handsome lawyer Antonio Bianchi steps in and saves his life. When Antonio offers something foreign to Cary—romance—Cary doesn’t know what to do. But then things get even more complicated. For one thing, Antonio has a six-year-old son. For another, Cary has to confess about his alter ego and hope Antonio forgives him.

Just when Cary thinks he's figured it all out, past and present collide and he is forced to choose between the family he wanted as a boy and the one he has come to love as a man.

I'm so excited about having you meet the "thief," Cary Redding, and the man who saves his life in more ways than one, Antonio Bianchi. Oh, and a few other characters I think you'll enjoy getting to know. "The Melody Thief" is a "life worth living" story about becoming a man, a partner, and a father. Oh, and of course, it's a story about music, and its importance in our lives. I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did writing it! -Shira

The winner of the t-shirt giveaway is Dianne! Congrats. I'll be contacting you by email. Don't forget that everyone who commented is still entered to win a copy of The Melody Thief in the ebook format of their choice. I'll be running another contest next week for more swag, so stay tuned! Don't forget you can also enter to win a copy (autographed, if you wish) of the paperback version of Melody Thief on Goodreads.

Thanks to everyone who entered and told me about their favorite music! I've got a few bands I'm going to be looking up. XD In the meantime, if you like classical, or are just curious, you can listen to some of the music from The Melody Thief by clicking here and scrolling down to the "Book Extras" tab and clicking on the link. You'll find links to free recordings there. -Shira

I have a weird brain. A music brain. The kind of brain that has me calling my husband by my son's name, but which remembers just about every word of every song I've ever heard. Including operas in Italian. Yep. I gave up singing more than a decade ago, but I bet I could still sing "Tosca" from memory. I guess it's no surprise then, that although I've given up singing, I can never give up music. It's in my DNA, or at least, it's imprinted on my aging brain cells! And here's the ultimate in weird: no matter what I hear, whether I know the music or I hear it in a commercial or just in passing on someone else's radio, that's the piece of music I will hear over and over again in my brain until I hear something else. No joke. Makes me nuts! Okay, so maybe I was there already....

My Blue Notes Series books are about music and musicians, so it probably would also not surprise you to hear that I do have "soundtracks" for each novel. Usually multiple classical music pieces and some jazz or rock, depending on my mood or the mood of the part of the story I'm writing at the time. The Melody Thief is no exception. My "theme" for The Melody Thief is the first movement of the Dvorak cello concerto. Yo-Yo Ma for this one - love that man! It's angsty, sexy and beautiful all rolled up into one amazing piece of music.

So what went through my brain yesterday, while I was at my real-life job, trying a child neglect case in front of a judge? Not the questions I was going to ask my witnesses, not the "theme" of my case. Nope. The Dvorak. I heard it when I was cross-examining witnesses, when I was making an impassioned closing statement to the judge, when I drove back home after the trial. No joke! It's almost as if there's another "track" in my mind that processes all the other stuff and the music just runs in a constant feedback loop. And it keeps going until I hear something else, or until I sing something else to myself (a very helpful approach when it's Justin Bieber singing "Baby, Baby" over and over again courtesy of my daughter!).

Okay. Confessional over. So when you're reading The Melody Thief as I hope you will, maybe for at least a few minutes while you're reading you'll hear some of the music that haunts me through my characters.

You can win a copy of The Melody Thief! Just comment on my blog until midnight, 8/23/12 to enter to win an ebook copy (format of your choice) of the book, which will be released on 8/24. You can also enter on Goodreads to win a signed, paperback copy. More contests next week to celebrate Thief's release.

 

 

The giveaway for the ebook copy of The Melody Thief , the second novel in the Blue Notes Series, ends tonight at midnight. All you need to do to enter is comment on my blog (www.shiraanthony.com). The book will be released on Friday, August 24th and I'll be having a release day party here on my blog. I'll be giving away an ebook copy of the original Blue Notes Series novel, Blue Notes, and a Melody Thief t-shirt with that gorgeous Catt Ford cover you see at the left (love that grin!).

The Melody Thief focuses on the importance of family and commitments, and what it means to be loved and to love someone in return. Cary Redding, a renowned classical cellist, is the melody thief—a man whose painful childhood has left him with nothing but his music. He lives his life without letting himself feel and dulls his pain with anonymous sex and alcohol.

Cary doesn’t mean to fall in love. He doesn’t want to. But when lawyer Antonio Bianchi saves Cary from muggers on a deserted Milan street, Cary finds himself falling hard. Then there’s a “little” complication— Antonio has a five year old son. Cary isn’t ready for a relationship, and he sure as hell isn’t ready for an instant family. But sometimes what you think you aren’t ready for is just what you need. I hope you’ll enjoy Cary’s journey of the heart as he learns to love and let himself be loved.

Want to read an excerpt? Click here and scroll down to click on the "excerpt" tab. Want to win a paperback copy of The Melody Thief? You also have until midnight tonight to win a paperback copy of the novel at Goodreads.com. Good luck! -Shira

Congratulations Alex! You're the winner of an ebook copy of "The Melody Thief." I'll be contacting you by email.

Release day for "The Melody Thief" is tomorrow, August 24th! It's also the first day of the Rainbow Book Reviews Blog Hop. To celebrate release day and the hop, I'll be running several contests here on my blog. Prizes include a Blue Notes Series t-shirt (you can choose from the original Blue Notes or The Melody Thief covers - click on the link to see them both) and an ebook copy of the original Blue Notes book (your choice of formats).

Come help me celebrate and check out all the wonderful blogs participating in the hop. There are prizes galore on the main hop site and on individual blogs. -Shira

Happy weekend and welcome to the Rainbow Reviews Blog Hop! Oh, and welcome to release day (Friday 8/24) for my latest gay romance, “The Melody Thief!” Yep, two-for-one day, and definitely time to celebrate! As part of the hop (and release day), I’ll be giving away one eBook copy of “Blue Notes,” the original Blue Notes Series book from Dreamspinner Press (your choice of formats) and a Blue Notes Series t-shirt (your choice of covers). To enter, just leave a comment with your email address on my blog. And be sure to check out all the other wonderful blogs and giveaways (click on the hop logo above)!

“The Melody Thief”

For those of you who aren't familiar with the Blue Notes Series, each book is a standalone novel that takes place in the same classical music universe. What does a “classical music” universe look like? It’s a place where performers share connections and friendships through their music. Characters include performers, entertainment lawyers, agents, and the people they know and love. Stories are often set in places where performers congregate—large cities like Paris, New York, Milan, and Chicago feature prominently in the series.

The original book in the series, “Blue Notes,” features a jazz violinist and a former musician turned lawyer, and is set in Paris. This new installment, “The Melody Thief,” features a classical cellist with an international career and an entertainment lawyer, and is set in Milan.

“The Melody Thief” is the story of cellist Cary Redding, a former child prodigy and a budding superstar on the classical music scene. Cary’s career is skyrocketing, but his personal life is a disaster. He’s addicted to anonymous sex and flirts with alcohol addiction. Everything comes crashing down around Cary when he’s mugged on a deserted Milan street while coming home from a gay bar. Things look grim until he’s rescued by Antonio Bianchi, an Italian lawyer (for those of you who have read “Blue Notes,” you’ll recognize Antonio as Rosalie’s lawyer).

Cary doesn’t want a relationship, although he’d be happy to end up in bed with Antonio. Things get complicated because Cary lies about who he is and pretends to be an out of work composer. The last thing Cary expects is to fall for Antonio. There’s also another complication: Antonio has a five year old son, Massimo. But when Antonio adds a little romance to Cary’s life, Cary falls hard. Now if he could only come clean about who and what he is.

To read an excerpt from “The Melody Thief,” click on the link and scroll down to the “Excerpt” tab.

Now, on to the theme of the Rainbow Review Blog Hop:

“What does writing GLBTQ literature mean to me?”

In some ways, writing gay romance isn’t all that different than writing anything else: it’s an act of self-expression, something my creative brain urges me to do. Ironic then, isn’t it, that a straight woman could learn far more about herself writing gay relationships than she ever learned from writing heterosexual ones.

I grew up in the 70s. My mother was a professional musician, my dad a college professor. Open-minded, politically active parents with openly gay friends. I never even thought twice about homosexuality as being “wrong.” It just was. The majority of men who inhabited my career universe, opera, were gay. Plenty of the women too. My best friend is a gay man—one of the best men I know. Kind, strong, intelligent, funny. In grad school, we used to say (with some seriousness) that if I wasn’t married by age 35, we’d get married and have a family together.

So what did I read at night when I was a college student? Harlequin romances. And boy, oh boy, did I long for more!

My first published romance was a het one. Spunky heroine with big boobs falls head over heels for another slave on the pirate ship where she’s held captive. Loved the hero. Hated the heroine. She was just so... wimpy. So not me. I’m a product of the women’s liberation movement—my parents told me I could do anything I wanted to do. I sang opera, went to law school in my 30s, and started writing professionally in my 40s.

My “a-ha” moment? My epiphany? When a friend asked me to co-author a love story about two men. My first thought: why not? My second: will I enjoy this? I couldn’t answer the first question (I figured that was a good sign). Still, I was pretty sure the answer to the second question would be “probably not.” Oh, how I was wrong!

I have a hard time explaining why I find gay romances so downright hot. Someone asked me if it’s because I can imagine “converting” the men to heterosexuality. Definitely not. And I don’t want to just substitute a different set of “junk” and create a main character who’s really a woman beneath it all (well not unless I end up writing a transgender story at some point!). But that got me thinking. I love men. Always have. I love their bodies, I love that they can be strong, self-assured and nobody faults them for it. There are so many shades of men, each with unique strengths, flaws, and weaknesses.

Which just leads me to the next reason I love writing gay romance: I want people to know how I feel about homosexuality. I want them to know I celebrate it. I want to write my best friend his own happy ending because, dammit, he deserves one like I got with my husband. And yes, there are times when I preach a little. And because I try to write about real relationships, I don’t skip condom use (or lack thereof). I’m not afraid to write explicit sex scenes because, let’s face it, real men have sex. And it’s not the glossed-over sex I read in those Harlequins years ago (if they even had sex); it’s sex as in a real physical relationship between human beings.

In the end, though, writing gay romance isn’t all that different from writing romance. My stories are about human failings, human strengths, and human emotions. The appeal of a well-written romance is that it can reach out and touch a reader’s heart, maybe even help the reader to learn something about him/herself, just as gay romance has touched my own heart and helped me to understand more about myself. -Shira

 

 

My guest today is Dreamspinner Press author Tali Spencer. Tali's book, Sorcerer's Knot , was just released by Dreamspinner Press. It's also queued up on my Kindle (can't wait!). So when I invited Tali and she suggested she blog about tentacle monsters, I said, "Bring it on!" Nothing like sexy men and tentacles. I loved this amazing book! For my review, click here. And, that cover! Nothing like an Anne Cain cover to make me drool.

Welcome, Tali, and congratulations on the new release! -Shira

****************

Thanks to Shira for having me stop by to talk about my new release, Sorcerer’s Knot. If you turn a sickly shade of green at the thought of rugged cliffs and crashing waves, this might not be the book for you. But if you enjoy magic and wizards and windswept islands, you just might love Sorcerer’s Knot.

You should know going in, though, that the story has a tentacle monster. The publisher didn’t put one on the cover, because the cover wasn’t big enough.

And why does it have a tentacle monster, you might ask? Well, here are the ten top reasons for a writer to put a tentacle monster in their book.

10. Your book will stand out in a crowd. How many books feature vampires? Werewolves? Firefighters? How about tentacle monsters? I rest my case.

9. Tentacle sex.

8. Readers won’t have to worry about a threesome or possible cheating, or whether the relationship happens too quickly. Almost no one expects the usual rules of courtship to apply to a tentacle monster.

7. Negative publicity. It’s better than none.

6. Some readers will try to understand the motives of the tentacle monster and make apologies for it. This is always fun.

5. Describing a tentacle monster is challenging and requires cracking out the old thesaurus so you can dredge up words like membranous, pustule, carapace, squamous, tenebrous, prehensile, and proboscidian. Using such words to describe most villains would be outrageous, but is expected when the villain has tentacles.

4. There’s no question that your protagonist is in trouble when he’s dangling by his ankle in front of a tentacle monster.

3. Great conversation starter for social occasions: “Meet my wife. She writes books about tentacle monsters,” starts a conversation every time.

2. Did I mention tentacle sex?

1. It’s a tentacle monster!

All kidding aside, though…

Sorcerer’s Knot is a dark book, with a gritty love story and grittier plot. It takes place in a world where primal forces still rule and magic can be stolen. The hero may not be who he at first seems. And there’s real danger in unburying secrets.

Blurb: In a world where pleasure unlocks even the best-guarded magic, Cian has a long list of magical talents—and an even longer list of sorcerers he slept with to acquire them. He even seduced a dragon. There’s just one arcane power left for him to master: command over the sea. Now Cian has learned where to find Muir the Scarred, the only man known to have mastered that power—and he is determined to wrest it from him by whatever means necessary.

But completing the task isn’t so easy. First, Cian’s boat is wrecked on the shores of Muir’s desolate island. Then he learns an enchantment will keep him there forever. And when he tries to seduce Muir, he finds himself being seduced by the mysterious sorcerer instead. But the source of the power Cian seeks is also trapped on the island, and it will stop at nothing to break free, even if that means forcing pleasure—and magic—from Cian's unwilling body.

Excerpt:

The sea cradled the moon and shattered against a silvered coastline. Froth churned on rocks that gnashed at the water like teeth. Barely seen on the horizon, a single island, shaped like a horn, lifted above the ink-black surface. Cian saw no way to the beach but to climb down the bluff on which he stood.

There was no way to the island at all.

Sea magic, the most elusive of the seven arcana by which a man might order the elements, was tightly guarded. Fresh water belonged to the sky or the earth, and could be ordered by those who knew their words of power, but the ocean was its own domain, answerable to its own gods. Only one man had ever mastered its secret language.

Many great mages had tried to find the sea’s master and failed, but Cian hadn’t let that stop him. At the age of six, he had confounded his village’s elders by transmuting iron into gold, a talent that, a few years later, had attracted the attention of an avaricious monk. Sequestered in a mountain monastery, he had toiled in captivity, making gold until he was seized by an even more avaricious king, whose sorcerers had refined his gifts. Under their tutelage, he had learned the keys of magic.

At sixteen he became restless and, sensing that his usefulness was limiting what others allowed him to know, began delving into arts his masters would not teach. With single-minded dedication, he had burned his hours until he had learned the language of dragons, necromancy’s black secrets—and of the sea’s one master.

He had escaped every one of his keepers, and now he was in the full prime of his adulthood. His skills were such that he could draw knowledge through the thick skulls of kings and mages, adding to his trove of lore, but no matter to what land he traveled or what power he touched, the man he sought was never to be found except in the form of a rumor, a myth. At last, from the mind of a sea creature dragged from the ocean’s depths, he learned a name.

Muir the Scarred.

That was the man Cian sought. A man who commanded the oceans, their currents and creatures, whose fell whispers gave birth to whirlpools, storms, and tides. A man who, decades before Cian had been born, had destroyed a great civilization in an hour, sending it to the bottom of the Twice-Gated Sea.

I have found you, old man, Cian exulted as he climbed down to the beach. The sea creature had told him to seek Muir on an island at the edge of creation, the place where the sea had first given birth to land. This was that place. But once on the beach, he stood confounded. A wide channel separated this tongue of primordial headland from the island. Even if he could swim strongly enough to break across swift, dangerous currents and whorls, the water here was too cold for him to survive long.

Muir guarded his island well.

Cian looked around. He might command rock to fill in the channel, but the sea here was deep, the natives said, and it might take the whole headland to do it. Even for him such an endeavor would take many weeks, and such activity would surely attract Muir’s notice. However, the beach was not entirely barren; the tides had left behind drifts of battered wood, planks and masts from ships that had foundered on the rocks.

Form of a boat, he spoke the language of the earth, material of a sail. Wood and seaweed, errant roots and living creatures buried in the sand, released their previous natures and reformed as stout timber, canvas, and rope. The boat was large enough for sea duty and small enough for one man to command. Cian pushed it out past the breakers and hauled his soaked body aboard. Taking the helm and manning the lines, he turned her out to sea.

 

The sea struck before he could reach the island. The water turned furious, hurling black waves at the small boat, spilling over its sides with claws of white spume that threatened to drag it under. Soon the violence would break the masts and weaken the hull. Muir had warded his hiding place against vessels. Cian cursed, though he had predicted the precaution. No matter. The boat had done what he needed: brought him close enough to the island he could now commit his body to the task of reaching its shore. He pulled off his boots and jacket.

As he dove into the water, seeking to distance himself from his sinking boat, he heard the mast snap. There would be more peril, but he did not turn to look. Muir would not content himself with waves; there would be vortices, also. The cold water filled his clothing and threatened to cramp his limbs, but he stroked toward the island that reared before him now like a great black stair. He was a strong swimmer. And he’d learned all there was to know about Muir.

The waves got the best of him. No mere man could overcome the sea, and Cian, in the sea, commanded no magic that could help him. He managed to mouth a spell that created a shell of air in which he might breathe, and it held for a minute, then a wave bigger than all the others pushed him under with such force his bubble struck bottom. The bubble cushioned the impact so his body was spared, but the cold dark currents of the sea ripped it free. Tumbled by currents, Cian flailed desperately in search of the surface until at length his strength gave out and his lungs opened, inhaling water.

This, he thought, was death.

Battered against the sea floor, his body exploded with pain as he tumbled over smooth, eroded rocks and tangled in weeds, rolled over time and again until he lay sprawled in water and opened his eyes to see a man in a billowing black robe, hooded and terrible, striding toward him along a path above which the sea towered on either side, churning white froth. Cian watched black boots treading seaweed and sand underfoot, coming closer and closer; then a giant hand reached for him, and he sank into merciful blackness.

 

Cian awoke from nightmares of drowning to the sweetness of air on his lips and cheek. A welcome warmth and the smell of burning wood let him know he had a fire to thank. He began to whisper the air to moisture on his parched lips when he remembered he should be dead, and his eyes flew open.

He was under a roof, within stone walls. A brazier sat nearby. The man seated beside his bed and illuminated by those coals had black hair and the remote face of a king such as Cian had served and fled. He might even have been handsome once. Now, however, the most striking thing about his appearance was a pattern of ridged, circular scars upon his forehead and left cheek, continuing in a puckered line to his neck. A beard somewhat concealed those on his jaw. The scars, while startling, had been with him long enough to have paled. One scar over the left eye had healed badly and sealed the lid partly closed, but the orb within, as black and penetrating as its twin, peered at him alertly.

“There you are,” the man said. “Well worth the effort.” He had a rough voice, perhaps from disuse.

“Where am I?” Cian prompted. Simple questions were the best to start.

Well-shaped lips pulled tight. “You’re on my island; you’re in my house, in fact. The real question is, who are you? No one comes to this island unsummoned, because no one not of this island knows it exists or has the skill to find out that it exists. Yet here you are.”

“My name is Cian. My boat was swept into these waters.”

“The winds and currents usually carry boats away.”

To that Cian said nothing. From what he knew of the island, it was true. He had commanded a change in the wind to get here.

His host turned to a table and lifted a bowl, stirring its contents with a bone spoon. “Soup? I eat plainly, but will share what I have for a day or two.”

Though his body hurt all over, the rich aroma wafting toward him persuaded him to sit. “Many thanks,” he said, accepting the bowl. He had been stripped of his garments—no surprise there, as they’d been soaked and ruined—but had been given a blanket. It slid to his hips and he noticed that the scarred man perused his torso for a long moment before looking back to his face. “I don’t suppose you get many guests.”

“No, not many at all. I prefer people stay away.”

“Why? Aren’t you lonely?”

“Often. I address that on occasion. You ask a lot of questions.”

He had one more. “I told you my name. Will you tell me yours?”

“Muir.” The sorcerer rose and walked away, tall and straight, his long robe displaying a stride that was limber, almost youthful. Cian knew him to be fifty years old at least and had expected a more decrepit man.

He finished his soup and the sorcerer took away the bowl, then left him alone while his battered body pulled him back toward sleep. He dreamed of the cold deep, of sinking ships and beaked, ravenous things that moved through the water on boneless limbs.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks for reading and having a little fun with tentacle monsters!

Interested in finding the book? Here are some buy links:

Dreamspinner: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=3183

AllRomance: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-sorcerer039sknot-918294-140.html

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Sorcerers-Knot-ebook/dp/B009138YDW/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1346083175&sr=1-1&keywords=tali+spencer

Interested in finding me? I’ve made it easy.

Email: tali.spencer1@gmail.com

My blog: http://talismania-brilliantdisguise.blogspot.com/

Twitter: @tali_spencer

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tali.spencer

Happy Wednesday everyone! It's a short work week for a lot of us, but somehow those always feel longer to me. I thought I'd mix things up by posting midweek and sharing a bit about the Blue Notes Series in general, then end with an excerpt from book #3 in the series, "Aria," due out in December from Dreamspinner Press. And it's a NSFW excerpt for 18+. My favorite kind! You can find the excerpt here (scroll down to "excerpt" and click on the + sign).

First off, let me share a secret: the Blue Notes Series is a bit of a personal fantasy of mine. A classical music universe (a bit of jazz and rock, too), beautiful men, romance, and happily-ever-afters. Then again, I grew up with lots of romantic fantasies. No surprise, then, that when I finally decided to try writing a novel, it was a romance.

I grew up with music. My mother, sister and I all had careers as professional musicians. I started out as a violinist and, in college, discovered opera. I sang opera professionally for more than ten years. So when I was trying to figure out what to write about for my second MM novel, I thought about what I knew and what I loved. From there, it was an easy decision.

Writing the books, however, was more of a challenge, because each of them deals with issues I myself have had some experience with as a musician: stage fright, long-distance relationships, and letting go so that you can allow your musical soul to shine through, among other things. Difficult issues for me to face, even more difficult to write about. And while I’m not a gay man, most of the men I met while I was singing were gay men. Wonderful men, some of whom I still count as my closest friends.

Each Blue Notes Series novel is a freestanding story and the books can be read in any order, although the main characters in one book may appear as secondary characters in another. The first book in the series, “Blue Notes,” is the story of former pianist Jason Greene, who escapes the pain of a failed relationship by running to Paris. There, he meets a jazz violinist, Jules Bardon, and learns about himself: what makes him happy and how to let go of the pain he’s been harboring for decades.

The second Blue Notes novel, “The Melody Thief,” is the story of cellist Cary Redding, a former child prodigy, sought after by conductors the world over. Underneath the veneer of success, however, Cary hides a world of pain. He escapes his past by drinking too much and seeking out anonymous sexual encounters in seedy bars. But Cary’s dual life comes crashing down around him when he’s rescued by lawyer Antonio Bianchi on a deserted Milan street. With Antonio’s help, Cary is able to overcome his past and become the man he wants to be.

The third novel in the series, “Aria,” to be published in December of 2012, is the story of Sam Ryan, a lawyer, and opera singer Aiden Lind. Sam and Aiden are instantly attracted to each other when they first meet in New York City. But Sam is still grieving the sudden death of his partner of seven years, and Aiden gets an offer to sing in Europe. They go their separate ways, only to meet again, five years later. But managing a relationship in the face of a career where you are nearly always on the road is a challenge for both men. And Sam hasn’t quite gotten over the pain of his loss, either. Together, they must find a way to work with Aiden’s jet-setting lifestyle and for Sam to move on from his grief.

There are at least five more novels planned in the series, including "Prelude" (my current WIP set for tentative publication in April, 2013), which tells the story of conductor David Somers (who appears in every Blue Notes Series book so far) and crossover violinist Alex Bishop. Also planned is "Dissonance," the story of Guy Bardon (brother of Jules Bardon from "Blue Notes") and drummer Henri Duhamel (drummer in Jules Bardon's jazz trio).

The one recurring theme of the Blue Notes Series novels, other than music, is the importance of relationships to character growth. Although there certainly are more fanciful plot twists in the novels, at their heart, they are stories of real human relationships and feelings. Real men. Real relationships. Real emotions. Many of the books are traditional romances, with a happily ever after (HEA) at the end. Others, however, have the HEA earlier on, and focus on the growth of love and overcoming obstacles to love after the HEA.

Each story in the series celebrates romance and love between men, and each story embraces the creative spirit in all of us. To read an excerpt from the next Blue Notes novel, "Aria," click here, then scroll down to "excerpt" and click on the + sign.