Devon McCormack's Blog

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THE METROPOLIS BOYS
   

STANDALONE ROMANCES
       
DARK DESIRES
 
YOUNG ADULT
   

It's been a while since I posted about my new books, so I've just lumped all the new releases together. Covers are linked to Amazon, where titles are available exclusively.

“I don’t need a fucking babysitter.”

Out and proud NFL star tight end Tad Roarke has success, money, and fame. Just about everything. Except a good reputation. After being outed by the media as a promiscuous cheat, sponsors are dropping him left and right. To make matters worse, he’s been targeted as the next victim of an anti-gay celebrity serial killer. The FBI works with his team to protect him, assigning Agent Bryce Finnegan as his undercover bodyguard. But Tad doesn’t like Bryce from the get-go. The fed thinks he’s a spoiled brat. Maybe he’s right. Regardless, Tad doesn’t plan on proving him wrong, and he’ll do anything to make Bryce’s job even more difficult. Still, as much as he hates him, he can’t deny the guy’s hot as hell…and he wouldn’t mind passing a few balls around with him in the sheets.

“I don’t get paid enough for this.”

Agent Bryce Finnegan is no stranger to undercover work. With a background in busting drug cartels, he’s used to his life being on the line. He’s not used to putting up with spoiled rich kids who don’t realize how good they have it. When he meets Tad Roarke, he expects him to be a jerk. And he’s right. But the more time he spends with him, the more he realizes that all Tad’s attitude is little more than bravado. He’s not an asshole, and the media has twisted more than a few facts to tarnish Tad’s reputation. Now Bryce isn’t just worried about protecting this guy from a serial killer, but about falling in love in the process.

Tight End is a stand-alone gay romance with a HEA and no cliffhanger.

BUYAmazon

Title: Weight of the World
Authors: Riley Hart & Devon McCormack
Genre: Gay Romance
Release Date: 30 August 2016
BUY ON AMAZON
Synopsis
Zack lost his job, his apartment, and his hope, which is why he ends up on the roof of a high rise, certain that one final step will solve his problems. But a mysterious stranger named Rob happens to be on the roof that night too. He talks Zack down, convincing him there's still hope left in the world. Zack thinks maybe he's right, which is why he's shocked when he turns on the news the next morning to find out Rob jumped himself. Disturbed and confused, he searches for answers, starting with Rob’s brother Tommy Rayburn.It’s been Tommy’s job to take care of his brother since they were kids, taking the blows from their father so Rob wouldn’t have to. Tommy thought he could protect him, even if it meant carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. Considering Rob threw himself off a building, he obviously couldn't.

Then he meets Zack, a friend of Rob’s who’s suspiciously evasive about how they knew each other. But they’re both grieving and determined to find out why Rob jumped. Answers don’t come easily and soon, they’re soothing each other with sweat-slicked, passionate encounters. Hot as things get in the bedroom, it doesn’t take them long to realize there’s more between them than mind-blowing sex and their pain. But the heaviness is still there, threatening to pull them under, and if they can’t open up with each other to lighten the load, the weight just might be enough to crush them both.

Buy Links:
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I know, I know. Been a long time since I blogged, but I've been sooo busy this year that I've been lucky just to be able to get out some books for you guys to enjoy. Today, I'm excited to announce my latest release, Lying Bastard. It's got some hot frat boys with some twisted as fuck minds. I hope you guys fall as in love with the main characters, Ian and Brad, as I did. Here's the blurb:

This standalone novella contains erotic content. This is not for people who are interested in BDSM. This is for people who like it rough.

Take me, Brad. Hurt me. Break me.

Freshman Ian craves something brutal. Something violent. Something dangerous. After an encounter with Brad, his student orientation leader, he believes he’s discovered the guy who can give him exactly what he needs. But when Brad ignores Ian’s attempts to reconnect, Ian knows it’s because he fears what they shared. He’s sure if he can just get close to him, Brad will cave to their powerful chemistry. And he has just the trick to make it impossible for Brad to shake him: pledge with Brad’s fraternity, Alpha Theta Mu. It’s the hottest fraternity on campus. The one every guy’s trying to get into. Fortunately for Ian, the fraternity’s Archon Aaron takes an interest in him. Playing along will help him pledge and keep him close to the object of his desire.

Brad wants Ian, but he fears the darkness within him. He’s hurt people in the past, and he can’t let himself hurt Ian. Brad knows the only reason Ian’s hooking up with Aaron is to get close to him, but messing with the Archon's boy-toy isn’t an option. But why can’t he keep away from Ian? Why does every moment they're alone together lead to passionate kisses and sadistic games? And why do his hands keep gravitating to Ian’s throat?

Bound is now available!
This book  has been a long time coming, but it's definitely worth the wait.


Warning: This title is erotic and contains homosexual content, graphic sex, violence, and strong language.

On the eve of the impending war between Heaven and Hell, the demon Kinzer and his mortal ally Maggie hunt for a powerful weapon that could destroy all of humanity. Devastated by the loss of his greatest love, Kinzer doesn’t believe he’ll ever find happiness again. But when he meets the immortal Hayde, he discovers all hope might not be lost after all.

The angel Treycore’s ex-girlfriend abducted his lover Kid and dragged him into the bowels of Hell. Now, Treycore searches for an entry into the immortal realm. But only one creature can assist him on his quest: Eilee, the most beautiful of the angels and another of Treycore’s previous lovers. After the war between Heaven and Hell, Eilee lost her mind and went on a murderous rampage. With her guidance, Treycore descends into Hell and battles God’s earliest creations as they journey to save Kid from the sadistic clutches of his villainous ex.

AmazonWilde City Press

I've been sitting on this project for some time, hoping I'd have good news to share. Today is that day! I'm happy to announce that Harmony Ink Press has offered me a contract for my YA novel, The Night Screams.

The first burst of inspiration for the book came in the form of a mental image of a terrified boy running naked through the woods. I knew, in the same way one knows things that they have no way of knowing in a dream, that his name was Cal. I didn't know anything else about him. But I wanted to. At the time, I was working on a sci-fi novel that was so much fun to write and just needed a few more chapters before it would be complete. Being a disciplined and fairly responsible writer, I said to myself, as I do occasionally when these sorts of bursts of inspiration hijack my imagination, "Thou shall finish the project you are working on!" I pushed through my sci-fi novel, but something about this simple image of the boy kept calling me, demanding my attention. In an effort to vanquish it from my thoughts, I decided to write a few pages. Surely, such a simple image wasn't enough to become a novel. That was clearly just a fantasy, because some tens of thousands of words later, I realized I was mistaken.
Cal's story is about his recovery after he escapes a sadistic man who tortured and raped him. When I was finished the first draft, I thought, What have I done? No one's going to publish this! I loved the characters and story, but I feared regardless of how tastefully I'd handled the dark themes, it would be quite a risk for a YA publisher to take on the manuscript. That said, I was relieved when an email from Harmony Ink assured me that The Night Screams had a home. Thank you so much Elizabeth North and Anne Regan for giving me the opportunity to share Cal and Jake with the world.
With that back story aside, I give you the working synopsis for The Night Screams:
Sweating. Panting. Running.
Cal runs naked through the woods, fleeing the sadistic man who abducted and tortured him. When he breaks into a convenience store to steal food and clothes, he encounters a young clerk who knocks him unconscious. He wakes in the home of the clerk's uncle Gary, the owner of the store he tried to rob. Realizing Cal needs help, Gary tries to communicate with him. But Cal's trauma has left him unable to speak. He writes down his experiences. Horrified by the perversion Cal endured, Gary takes him to the police, who track down his tormentor.
Gary and his wife take Cal in. But Jake, the clerk who attacked him, doesn't trust him and let's his concern be known through his harsh criticisms and insults. However, as Cal comes to know Jake, he realizes he might be the very person who can heal the deep wounds left by his horrifying experience. Can he move forward from his trauma or will he be haunted by the painful memories for the rest of his life?
I'm so excited about sharing this project with you guys, and thanks again to Harmony Ink Press for helping me do just that!

Last week, I received a message from a friend and author with the question: "How do you write those damn 1-2 page synopses?" A one to two page synopsis is what a writer submits to an agent or publisher. It's usually unavoidable. If you want someone to read your work for publication, you have to create one of these. I am with two publishers, and I still have to submit these just like any other newbie. It's one of those evil parts of the business side of writing that feels like it sucks all the fun and creativity out of the game. Some authors have a natural flair for this, and I say, "Screw them!" If you're one of those guys, then I don't know why you would read any further. However, if like me, you've struggled to muster the courage to face that blank page after pumping out a 60-000-100,000-word manuscript, then this might just help you out.

When I first started writing synopses for books, I was fifteen and had written my first book. I naively wanted to publish it, so I devoured every article and book I could on how to get an agent/publisher. I drafted several synopses. This took a lot of time and energy, and I nearly gave up on writing probably five or six times during the process. It's just not as much fun to craft a synopsis as it is a novel. There's a reason I wrote a whole book--because that's how long that story needed to be told! Still, as with any industry, if you want to work in it, you need to play by its rules, especially in the beginning. Since I crafted that first synopsis, I've written fourteen novels (several unpublished, some in the submissions process or publishing process right now), and I've had to write synopses for all of them. However, my synopsis writing experience doesn't stop there. In my early twenties, I worked at a production company in Los Angeles. I began as a reader, where I had to craft synopses for all the screenplays that came into our office. From my synopses, my employer promoted me to writer because she saw something in my synopses that indicated I actually knew what the hell I was doing. I also nabbed my first agent and manager with synopses that ultimately led to them reading my work. That said, I've had a lot of practice over the years, and I'm glad I have, because it's proved instrumental to getting my books published. Like with anything though, over the years, I've encountered a lot of terrible advice I didn't find helpful at all, as well as discovered a few things that have been incredibly helpful.

Terrible Advice that Never Helped Me:
1) It doesn't need to be well written. I've heard some author gurus suggest that publishers know synopses are all crap, so you shouldn't be worried about it sounding good. To me, this is like telling authors people don't judge a book by its cover, so it's okay to have a crappy cover. That's just a lie. In the same way people use covers to determine if they're interested in reading something, publishers and agents use synopses to assess an author's writing ability and determine if they're interested in a project. Anything the agent/publisher reads that sounds half-assed or incompetent will get you tossed into the slush pile, where your submission will never be heard from again.

2) It needs to be the best thing you've ever written. This may sound like a contradiction to the last point, but it's really not. Perfection is the author's enemy. You don't have to go for the best thing you've ever written, but you want to show that you can hook the reader and tell a story simply in a somewhat compelling way.

3) Lists of things to be included in the synopsis. There are tons of lists out there of all the elements that should be included in a synopsis. All these lists ever do for me is make the process seem intimidating. Sure, there are a bunch of things that need to be included to make it coherent, and maybe you should use such a list as a checklist when you go back and look at your finished synopsis, but don't go in with all that weight on your shoulders. It's not worth it.

Advice that Will Get the Job Done:
1) Just write it. Sit down at your computer and write the damn thing. I know this sounds too simple, but don't try to get it right that first time. Get the job done! I would actually use that #1 in "Terrible Advice that Never Helped Me" here. Hey, maybe it did help after all! This isn't your masterpiece. You don't have to get this right the first time. Think of this like that essay for the class you hated. You didn't want to do it. It wasn't the most brilliant thing you ever wrote, but you got it done. The key here is to keep reminding yourself that you'll fix it later. So seriously, it's okay if it reads like:

Jack likes Bobby. Bobby is mean. Bobby thinks Jack is an ass. Bobby thinks Jack is an ass. Damn. Wrote that already...

Do your best to write the events that lead up to the conclusion. This can turn out two ways: 1) You could wind up with a quarter of a page to work with. 2) You could wind up with five pages to work with. Either way, you're fine. This is not your finished product! It's just a draft, so you don't have to panic over it.

2) Make sure you've included critical elements. Reread your synopsis and make sure you've included important plot and character elements. Does your synopsis explain the main character's goal and how it changes throughout the story? Did you explain the most important twists and developments in the story? If not, this is when you need to go back and shove them in. Yes, I said just shove them in! This is not the time to make it sound pretty. Just mash it in wherever you can put it so that you'll remember that you want to include it. The most important thing here is to make sure the synopsis includes the necessary elements that will make the story coherent to whomever may read it.

3) Trim the fat. Like in life, sometimes we put on more than we need, and we have to go back and make up for that. Go back through the synopsis and make sure to only include the essentials that get your story across. Remember to kick out those subplots and a few of those supporting characters. At the very least, not every character needs to be introduced by name. You can just say things like, "A friend of Jack's tells him..." rather than "Tandy, Jack's orthorexic friend who wants to win the senior spelling bee, tells him..."

4) Improve the writing. If you listened to my advice and just wrote it, it came out sloppy, messy, and somewhat inarticulate. Although, maybe not for you. Maybe you're just that brilliant. If so, congratulations and I hate you. Now that you have all the important elements in the story in this pile of crap of a synopsis, go back and massage the writing. This is where you can make it sound pretty. You have the structure. Now is where you use that creative, inspired part of you and let it finesse this heaping mess. Approach it as you would approach fixing up a synopsis for a friend. Some may have a hard time working from this piece of garbage. If that's the case, just use what you've written in this one as a blueprint and start from scratch. The one you just wrote is only important in that it tells you what needs to be included.

5) Grammar and mechanics. Ugh. That's right. I'm an ass. You have to go through that synopsis at least two more times. I suggest reading it out loud, because that's what I do. Reread until it appears error-free. Then hand it off to that friend/editor who you show everything before throwing it out into the world. There are some who say, "Don't show it to your mother, because she won't be willing to tear it apart for you." I've never agreed with this advice, since my mother was the type who once said, "This is really the worst book you've ever written." Thanks, Mom. Thanks a lot. That aside, my word of caution is: "Hand it over to your mother if you know it will come back with all sorts of red marks and suggestions."

5) Put together the rest of your package for submissions. You've got a lot of work to do, and writing a synopsis is just the first part. You need that query letter and a well-edited manuscript to go along with it. And this doesn't even include the amount of time you'll have spent researching which agents and publishers you want to submit to. Get to work!


A few more things to think about:
1) Don't introduce more than five characters. The synopsis reader doesn't need to know about every character that appears in the book. If you think they do, have fun with your six page synopsis!

2) Some plots are more important than others. If a subplot can be abandoned without affecting the synopsis reader's understanding of the story, get rid of it.

3) If it doesn't make sense unless you offer a long, boring description, throw it out or rephrase it! There's a reason you wrote a 100,000-word book. That's how long it took to tell the story. However, in a synopsis, you don't have time to explain everything. And some bits of information can read as strange or implausible if you write them without the necessary explanation that is in the book. So if you find yourself saying something like, "He's an owl shifter, but only on Tuesdays...except for this one part later where it's not on a Tuesday because of a spell that isn't really all that important to this greater plot about his love for the cougar shifter," then this would be a good time to use this advice. Think of the synopsis as a self-contained story. If something in it will throw the reader off, then write it so that it won't make the reader go, "What the...?" In the shifter example, just avoid the Tuesday-shifting nonsense, and you'll be fine.

Oh my God! I looked to see when the last time I posted on this blog and was like, "October? Really?" Wow. I have dropped the ball on social media. I apologize for my negligence, but I promise it served my writing. For the past few months, I have been working on several books, two of which are completely finished. I'm finishing up self-edits on another, and I've already begun the project I'll be working on next, so I just want to say, that's what I've been up to. That said, here's what I have coming up:
The sequel to Clipped, titled Bound (Signed with Wilde City Press, Release: TBD)The Night Screams - Young Adult Contemporary Novel.Flashing Lights - New Adult Contemporary Romance Novel
I'll have many more details soon, I promise. I'm thrilled about all these projects, and I can't wait to share them with you guys!
Outside of that, I would like to go ahead and discuss my writing while there's a bit of lag time between my last book and my future books. This year has been extraordinary. I have made so many new friends and met so many wonderful people who have welcomed me into the world of publishing with open arms. The energy and the passion that people have for writing and reading has been a great driving force in keeping me writing and working on new material. I've grown so much as a writer over the past twelve months, and I have been so fortunate to have a growing readership that is eager to email, FB message, and Tweet with me to let me know they have enjoyed reading my books, which I am most proud of. Aside from those moments of inspiration that excite and delight me as I'm writing a chapter in a book, I can't think of anything more rewarding about this business than having the experience of getting positive feedback from readers about finishing one of my novels. I'm so appreciative that you guys are out there, because it really means the world to me.
I've also been so fortunate to have the support of some great publishers who have been willing to take a chance on my weird little books. So I owe so much to Wilde City Press and Dreamspinner for giving me a platform to write and reach audiences. I also owe so many great reviewers for taking the time to read and review my books in a market that has so many amazing authors who are actively releasing and many new authors who are eagerly looking for their own space in this genre.
That all said, I'm so excited about where my work is taking me and am so excited about the future books I'll be sharing with you all!

Since I've been off the grid for far too long, it's finally time to unveil my two October releases, which are fortunately just in time for Halloween. Here we go...
Up first is The Pining of Kevin Harding, a New Adult paranormal novel. If you like vampires and action with a touch of romance, then this book is for you.

Available from Wilde City Press on October 8th, 2014
Here's the blurb:
Kevin Harding wanted an exciting life. Now, he’s a vampire and wishes he could go back to his average, boring one in the suburbs. His master is furious that he refuses to hunt, but Kevin knows it’s only a matter of time before he caves. The longer a person is a vampire, the more compliant they are to their master’s will.When Kevin decides to give the hunt a try, he’s kidnapped by vampire hunters. Rather than endure their severe torture, he agrees to help them kill his master. The hunters’ plan goes horribly awry, and they flee the scene with Kevin. But they have to restrategize quick. The longer he’s away from his master, the more painful his life becomes. He craves his master. He hungers for him. He pines for him. And as they get close to enacting their plan, Kevin isn’t sure if he’ll be able to follow through.A little warning to those who enjoy my kinkier work, this book does not have any on-page sex, so if you're looking for something smutty, you're gonna have to wait until I release the sequel to Clipped, which I'm nearly finished.Next on the docket for October is When Ryan Came Back, a paranormal Young Adult novel for lovers of ghosts and some good ole fashion mystery. 

Available from Harmony Ink Press on October 16th, 2014
And of course, here's the blurb:
Steven's life changes forever the day he discovers his childhood friend and lifelong crush, Ryan Walters, standing in his bedroom. The problem? Ryan Walters committed suicide just days earlier. 
Ryan tells Steven that he didn't kill himself. He believes he was murdered and that his death is linked to an article he was working on for the school paper. Steven sets out to solve the mystery, but as the story unfolds, so does Ryan's secret life of sex with guys and depression. Steven realizes suicide is more plausible than Ryan's conspiracy theory, but he struggles to convince Ryan of the real cause of his death. And despite revelations of his friend's closeted life, he must face the truth that Ryan doesn't—and never will—love him.


Look out for the books I'll be pumping out after these:
Metal Made Flesh
&
Bound (AKA Clipped # 2)
I'll be posting more details about these shortly.

In the meantime...don't forget about my already released titles: