Kate Lowell's Blog

Releasing February 1, 2017 from Manifold Press!

Hot Italian Renaissance painters. Do I really need to say more?

 

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What it’s about:
In the village of Torrenta, master painter Morello has created a color that mimics the most expensive pigment of all, the crimson red. Master Zeno, from strife-ridden Medici Florence, tells him the color gives him a competitive advantage – but Morello must be careful. Fraud is ever-present in the dye and pigment markets.
 
As they work together in Torrenta, Morello falls hard for Zeno’s assistant, Benedetto Tagliaferro, a young man of uncommon beauty and intelligence. Benedetto is still fixed on his old lover, the master painter Leo Guisculo, and cannot return Morello’s affections.
 
But when Leo dies in a terrible accident, it’s to Morello that Zeno and Benedetto turn for help. And Morello soon finds that in Florence, every surface hides layers of intrigue.

75,600 words of Historical Romantic Suspense in passionate Renaissance Italy

A Sneak Peek:
The village of Torrenta, Tuscany, June 1475
Morello

The sun thrust warm fingers into the ancient Tuscan earth. The gray-green leaves of the olive trees shimmered, and the woods beyond beckoned Morello to abandon the painters’ workshop for their cool refuge.

In the growing heat the apprentices inside settled into an afternoon nap, curled on benches in dark corners behind him. The harsh fumes of linseed oil and varnish had irritated Morello all morning, and he was unable to sleep in the miasma. Perhaps before their visitors from Florence arrived, he might escape the heat. A long tramp in the woods pulled at his bones.

He reached for the walking stick behind the door, but a horse’s whinny stopped him, and a man’s voice called out. When no one stirred within to answer, he cursed the sleepers and stomped back through the shop, thwarted. In the lane in front of the workshop, two men removed packs from their horses.

“Good day, Master Zeno!” From the doorway, Morello called to the older of the two. “You made good time!”

At the sound of Morello’s voice, the apprentices roused themselves from sleep and peered around him.

The gray-haired master raised his hand and smiled. “Good day, Master Morello.”

Master Zeno’s companion, a tall young man with flowing golden hair, took the older man’s pack for him and shouldered the straps of both.

“Take their horses to the stable and fetch Master Franco,” Morello ordered the apprentices, and they hurried to obey.

Master Zeno’s journeyman brushed dust from the sleeve of his sweat-stained linen shirt, slapped more dust from his long thighs, and ran a forearm across his brow. His smile was uncertain as his glance met Morello’s.

Donato stood at the window yawning and scratching his stomach. He shaded his eyes for a better look into the misty glare of the afternoon. “Who’s the beauty with the master?”

Donato’s fellow journeyman Primo jumped to his feet and crowded against Morello in the doorway. “Can it be? He’s brought Tagliaferro?”

Donato groaned. “The man you’ve been mooning about since you last went to Florence, Primo? You’ve only just finally shut up about him.”

Morello ignored them. His irritation over his interrupted walk had vanished. Primo’s garlic- and onion-laden breath on his neck registered only remotely. He gazed out at the man from Florence, who, in Morello’s memory, had once been a long-legged boy with a head of yellow fluff too big for his skinny body. Morello stepped out into the sunlight that appeared to pour itself over the grown man, and stretched out his hand in greeting. Maintaining frank eye contact, Benedetto Tagliaferro adjusted the packs and took his hand.

When flesh met flesh, Morello stumbled – at least, his heart did. As if the wind from the beating wings of the love-inspiring putti he had painted just that morning pushed them toward each other.

“Do you remember me?” Benedetto asked with the shadow of that boy’s grin.

About Heloise West:

Heloise West, when not hunched over the keyboard plotting love and mayhem, dreams about moving to a villa in Tuscany. She loves history, mysteries, and romance of all flavors. She travels and gardens with her partner of thirteen years, and their home overflows with books, cats, art, and red wine.

Where to find Heloise:

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GoodReads

I’m a part of a forum that’s exclusively for romance writers, and one day I noticed a post about a giant giveaway being put together, with short stories from all genres. It runs from January 3 to January 10 and you can find it here:

Free St ories Link

 

Kay Simone has a story in there, as does Rory Wilde (puppies!), but there are stories from science fiction, fantasy, horror, young adult, hetero romance, and some that really can’t be classified. So pop on over and check it out–you might just find a new favorite author!

 

Nuts About YouNutty Romances 1

Nathan’s been crushing on one of his regular Bulk Mart customers for a while now. In squirrel form, he sits on Vince’s bird feeders, munching on seeds and enjoying the eye candy. Until the day Vince notices him raiding the feeder…

Buy this book on:
Amazon | IBooks | Kobo | Barnes & Noble

  If you can see this, you’ve made it through 2016. Or at least, 2016 on the east coast of Canada. Hoisting a glass to you all in hopes of a better 2017.

My resolutions haven’t changed much. Keep fixing up the house. Buy a newer car, as this one is getting up there in years. Take the kid on a trip, since she’s never been farther than my mother’s in her life. And try to get back to writing, which given that it’s another job on top of the two I have already… urgh. But, houses must be repaired and bills must be paid. I’ve requested a schedule change at job one to give me a day every two weeks home with no distractions. So a new resolution for this year is to make that work for me, lol. And, I’m hiring people to do these things, instead of trying to do it myself, because it’ll get done faster and better.

So, as a gift from me to you, for surviving this absolute shit of a year, I give you:

A Nutty Interlude(maybe some slight spoilers? not really. Like Vince is ever going to leave Nathan, right?)

“I’ve never had a real tree before,” Vince said through a mouthful of pine needles. He spit out the branch trying to feed itself to him and peered down the trunk at Nathan. “Now I know why.”

“It’s just a few needles,” Nathan said. “They’ll clean up easy.”

“We should have done this tomorrow. Who takes down the Christmas tree on New Year’s Eve?”

“In my family, it’s a survival requirement.” Nathan was about to explain, when the explanation himself burst out of the tree and landed on Vince’s head. “Luke!” Nathan yelled. “Get off him or you’re spending New Year’s outside!”

The squirrel, a gray-backed cousin of Nathan’s, spun in a circle, digging his claws into Vince’s scalp as he turned. Vince’s eyes started to tear up with pain and the tree slipped out of his grasp when he tried to wipe them. The tree rolled and tipped sideways, and Nathan was pulled off-balance on the slippery front step.

Whoosh! Down he went, bumping over each step with the tree sliding merrily after him and his Cousin Luke yelling excited squirrel obscenities into the chill air.

“Nathan! Nathan? Are you okay?” Vince fumbled his way past the branches splayed over the step and fell to his knees beside Nathan.

“Yeah,” Nathan wheezed. Visions of acorns danced around his head for a moment, unlike the pleasant ones at Christmas, then slowly faded.

Cousin Luke bounded up the tree to sit on Nathan’s chin and peer worriedly at his face, only accidentally sticking his little front paws up Nathan’s nose once. He chittered once, asking if Nathan was okay, and Nathan chittered back that he would, but Luke wouldn’t be if he didn’t get a grip on himself. Luke shot back an angry chitter and spun to race back into the house.

“We better go after him,” Nathan said and began to fight his way out from underneath the tree. “He’ll get into something, for sure.”

“Well, I guess 2016 is having a last go at us,” Vince said as he helped Nathan to his feet. “You sure you’re all right?”

“Yeah. This isn’t the first time Cousin Luke did something landed landed me with a bruised butt.” He smiled and cuddled into Vince’s arms. “You may want to check me over later to make sure there’s no permanent damage.”

“Already in the works.” Vince held him close. “Let’s get the tree out to the end of the driveway and then we can plan our own personal fireworks.”

As they dragged the tree over the lawn, Nathan decided that no matter how bad 2016 had been, he still had Vince, and if even Nathan’s family hadn’t chased him away, then maybe it wasn’t an entirely moldy year after all.

   First of all, Christmas Goes Analog has a new cover and is now available in Kindle Unlimited!  Ana J Phoenix did this cover too, and isn’t it a fantastic job? While the naked guy in the background is maybe a tad too cut for a geeky systems administrator, I think she pegged my nerdy programmer perfectly. He can’t even leave his laptop behind when he’s posing on a book cover!  I’ve been playing with Vellum as well, which is a program used to format ebooks, so the insides will look different from the original, though the content is all the same (except for a few clarifications).

My other cover is for Nathan Goes To France Again! (Just kidding, that’s not really its name.) La Planète des Ecureuils (I forget the keyboard shortcut for that capital E with the accent, lol).

I heard from the translator while she was working on this story. Apparently, the puns drove her crazy too.

JT is a member of my critique group and she has a paranormal thriller coming out from Riptide Publishing today.

About Murder Once Seen

In the city of Nis, things often aren’t what they seem.

Derwin is a bounty hunter gifted with the Oddity of superhuman strength and agility—perfect for hunting down fugitives and demons who roam the streets. One killed his boyfriend two years ago, and Derwin won’t stop until he finds out who. Police suspect it was someone he sent to prison, but he can’t shake the idea that they’re missing something.

Elliot is a rentboy who’s been living on the streets since his parents disowned him. He mistrusts everyone and, given his uncontrolled ability to Read Objects and a client list that includes a major gang boss, despairs of ever having a normal life.

Derwin and Elliot meet in a storm of lust. Derwin’s Oddity is fed by the pain of others, but he only wants what’s freely given. Elliot loves pain, but needs safety and a way off the streets before he can allow it. They may be able to solve each other’s problems . . . if they can survive long enough to work together.

Available now at Riptide Publishing. 

About JT Hall

J.T. Hall has been writing for many years under this name and others, and has appeared in magazines, anthologies, and online books. She earned her BA in creative writing from the University of Arizona, her Master’s in education from Argosy University, and works as an independent technical writer for state and federal programs. In her free time, she volunteers for the LGBT community and is active in the leather scene. She has a teenage daughter and a partner of over ten years. They live in sunny Arizona with three adorably cute dogs, three black cats, and a hamster who loves peanuts.

Connect with J.T.:

Blog: jthallwriting.wordpress.com
Twitter: @JTHall7
Tumblr: www.tumblr.com/blog/jthallwriting
GoodReads

Giveaway

To celebrate the release of Murder Once Seen, one lucky winner will receive a $20 Riptide credit! Leave a comment on the tour stops with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on December 17, 2016. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries.

In so many ways, lol. I usually have snowflakes in the winter on my site, but I forgot about them until the other day. Now it looks like my Christmas lights are working, but I’m going to have to dig a little deeper into the backend of the site to figure out why the snowflakes aren’t showing.

So, NaNo was a success, in that I wrote 50,000 words. Sadly, they weren’t all in Proud Flesh. I’d thought, this one being slightly lighter in tone (once you get past the beginning) than the first one, I wouldn’t have the same reaction while writing it as I did while working on Flesh Market. Boy, was I wrong.  At least this time, I caught it before I got to the point I did with Flesh Market, which was a level of anxiety and depression I hadn’t experienced in a long time. So I backed out of Proud Flesh and wrote in something else for the rest of NaNo. But, Proud Flesh is 55,000 words in, and I think better than Flesh Market was. I like Dave, though he’s probably not thinking the same about me. #sorryDave is my new motto. I’ll admit it, my writer style in this series appears to be Total Jerk.

#sorryDave

I’m trying to reorganize my schedule so that I write at least 2000 words a day in something, and 3000 words on each of the weekend days. That way I can take a day each week that isn’t focused on writing and work on other things. Like finishing the edit on Knight, which I had tentatively slated to go to the editor over Christmas, but have been sorely neglecting. So, tomorrow being my first No-Writing-Monday, I’m going to open that one up again and try not to feel guilty about the lack of new words being added to anything. I also have a fairly labor-intensive beta I’m working on, and my usual contingent of critique group work to do. I sure won’t be a Netflix and chill night.

ARe is having a rebate sale, where you get half of what you spend back as ARe credits. Click on the picture and it’ll take you to my page at ARe, if there’s something  you haven’t read and want to buy on the cheap.

Addison is a member of my critique group. As you can tell, she is far more competent with the HTML than I am.

Jena stepped into the breach for another author and her new book, Just A Week, has come out a week early! (I could make the obvious pun, but it’s already been done, lol.)

It’s a cute story, kind of an opposites attract/don’t judge a book by its cover/you never know where you’re gonna find love theme. Very simple, but sweet and endearing. It’s on for $2.69 for its debut week.

I’m going to tag @Ann-Katrin Byrde and @Amelia Faulkner for this. The idea is to post the first three lines from the first three chapters of your current work in progress. Since dayjob is done for a bit, I’ll finally have the time and the spoons to work on The Wall Nuts, so I guess that makes it my WIP.