Author Name: Amy Lane, Angel Martinez, Elin Gregory,
Freddy MacKay, JC Wallace, Tali Spencer & Tinnean
Book Name: Foolish Encounters: A Rainbow Gold
Anthology
Release
Date: April 1, 2015
Blurb:
An
accident, a chance encounter, a thought blurted out, a boat blown off course, a
change in direction that suddenly runs into the line of fire – the smallest
misstep can change everything. These foolish encounters are the moments around
which lives pivot and sometimes spin out of control. Join us for tales of
imprudent choices and bad decisions that can lead just as easily to hilarity as
they can to tragedy.
Pages or Words: 426 pages, 92,600 words
Categories: Contemporary, Gay Fiction, Humor, M/M
Romance, Paranormal, Romance, Science Fiction (Please remember that not all
stories will encompass these categories.)
Excerpt:
Well Hello, Eight Eyes
An hour later, restless and feeling more than
a little bit trapped by the tight dimensions of the single main room, he looked
out the windows and saw that the rain was letting up. It was barely a drizzle
now. The prospect of fresh air and a look at his surroundings moved him to open
the door and step onto the narrow plank porch.
He’d told Cory he would not leave the cabin,
true, but the porch was part of the cabin. Right?
He immediately shivered. He’d come ashore
without his coat and figured he must have shrugged out of it underwater. That
the weather had taken a cold turn, he felt bitterly. Though the gale had
subsided, a brisk November wind whipped trees mostly stripped of autumn
foliage. The sun dropped beneath the clouds and threw shadows across the porch
and past a few low trees as it painted a bright exclamation point upon a
choppy, watery horizon.
Lake Michigan. And he was facing west,
because that was a sunset.
Unless he’d been magically transported across
the thumb of Door County and into Green Bay, he had to be on an island.
He squinted through the trees to each side
but couldn’t make out which direction would take him to town. At the edge of a
wildflower-filled clearing to the north, he spied movement on a weathered split
log fence. Something big and rust-colored scuttled onto one of the posts and
stopped there, positioning its hairy body atop a multitude of bristling legs.
Another creature appeared to pursue it, alike
with many legs but displaying some kind of bizarre colored shield upon its
back. It was dancing on the fence rail, waving two or more legs at the first
creature.
Spiders?
Hell no. No way were spiders as big as
raccoons.
The first spider crouched. The second one
minced closer. A third one jumped up on another part of the fence, also
flashing its colored appendage.
Oh. Fuck. They were huge! Tanner stepped
back. A board beneath his heel creaked. The spiders froze. All three jumped in
place, turning to face him with creepy legs and eyes as big as tennis balls.
Sales
Links:
http://www.wildecity.com/books/gay-mainstream/foolish-encounters-a-rainbow-gold-anthology/#.VRIAAGaGKQk
ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-foolishencountersarainbowgoldanthology-1777497-166.html
ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-foolishencountersarainbowgoldanthology-1777497-166.html
About the authors:
Amy LaneAmy Lane has two kids in college and two kids in soccer, and four fur-babies up in her business as she writes. She, her Mate, and her brood live in a crumbling crap mansion and squander their funds on movies, travel, and joy.
Angel Martinez
While Angel Martinez is the erotic fiction pen name of a writer of several genres, she writes both kinds of gay romance – Science Fiction and Fantasy. Currently living part time in the hectic sprawl of northern Delaware, (and full time inside the author's head) Angel has one husband, one son, two cats, a changing variety of other furred and scaled companions, a love of all things beautiful and a terrible addiction to the consumption of both knowledge and chocolate.
Elin Gregory
Elin Gregory lives in South Wales and has been making stuff up since 1958. Writing has always had to take second place to work and family but now the kids are grown up it’s possible she might finish one of the many novels on her hard drive and actually DO something useful with it.
Historical subjects predominate. She has written about ancient Greek sculptors, 18th century seafarers but also about modern men who change shape at will and how echoes of the past can be heard in the present. Heroes tend to be hard as nails but capable of tenderness when circumstances allow.
There are always new works on the go and she is currently editing a novel about spies in the 1920s, finishing one set in 6th century AD England and contemplating one about the Second World War. Any excuse to buy more books!
Freddy MacKay
Freddy grew up in the Midwest, playing sports and running around outside. And honestly, that much has not changed since Freddy was small and throwing worms at other kids, expect worm throwing has been replaced with a healthy geocaching addiction. Freddy enjoys traveling and holds the view a person should continually to learn about new things and people whenever possible.
Freddy's contemporary LGBTQ book, Incubation: Finding Peace 2, won 3rd Place - Best Gay Erotic Fiction in the 2012 Rainbow Awards. In 2013, Freddy's story, Internment, tied for 3rd Place - Best Gay Fantasy in the Rainbow Awards. Freddy's steampunk/SF story, Feel Me, was a Finalist and honorable mention in the 2014 Rainbow Awards for SF.
JC Wallace
JC "Jake" Wallace started writing from a young age, but took a break for marriage, kids, and college (in that order). A few years ago, he rediscovered his passion and ventured out into the brave new world of publishing. He now has several novels and short stories published. At night and on the weekends, Jake writes about all things men, believing there is nothing hotter than two men finding and loving one another, whether for a night or forever. An avid reader of M/M romance, Jake loves a good twist of a plot, HEA, HFN, or tragic ending. He also writes what his bestie calls HUNK (Happy Until the Next Kidnapping). In his daytime hours, Jake works with individuals with autism and behavior problems. He is owned by a beautiful partner, three kids, two grandchildren, two dogs and one cat. He lives in the Adirondack Mountains in Northern NY.
Tali Spencer
Tali Spencer fell in love with writing at an early age and never stopped. Thanks to a restless father, she grew up as a bit of a nomad and still loves to travel whenever she can. Her longest stint in one place was Milwaukee where she went to college, enjoyed a series of interesting careers, and raised three surprisingly well-adjusted sons. She later married her true love and put down new roots in Philadelphia, where she lives in an ongoing Italian American family sitcom. At least she’s learned how make good pasta. When not writing, Tali reads everything from sweet goofy romances to medical research, manages her fantasy football team—go Gekkos!—and takes long walks with her loving, if slightly neurotic, poodle.
Tali Spencer fell in love with writing at an early age and never stopped. Thanks to a restless father, she grew up as a bit of a nomad and still loves to travel whenever she can. Her longest stint in one place was Milwaukee where she went to college, enjoyed a series of interesting careers, and raised three surprisingly well-adjusted sons. She later married her true love and put down new roots in Philadelphia, where she lives in an ongoing Italian American family sitcom. At least she’s learned how make good pasta. When not writing, Tali reads everything from sweet goofy romances to medical research, manages her fantasy football team—go Gekkos!—and takes long walks with her loving, if slightly neurotic, poodle.
Tinnean
Tinnean has been writing since the 3rd grade, where she was inspired to try her hand at epic poetry. Fortunately, that epic poem didn't survive the passage of time; however, her love of writing not only survived but thrived, and in high school she became a member of the magazine staff, where she contributed a number of stories.
It was with the advent of the family's second computer – the first intimidated everyone – that her writing took off, enhanced in part by fanfiction, but mostly by the wonder that is copy and paste.
While involved in fandom, she was nominated for both Rerun and Light My Fire Awards. Now she concentrates on her original characters, and recent novels have received honorable mention in the 2013 and 2014 Rainbow Awards.
A New Yorker at heart, she resides in SW Florida with her husband and two computers.
Ernest Hemingway's words reflect Tinnean's devotion to her craft: Once writing has become your major vice and greatest pleasure, only death can stop it.
Where
to find the authors:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/freddy.m.mackay,
https://www.facebook.com/amartinez2, https://www.facebook.com/amy.lane.167,
https://www.facebook.com/Tinnean,
https://www.facebook.com/jcwallacebooks,
https://www.facebook.com/elin.gregory,
https://www.facebook.com/tali.spencer
Twitter: https://twitter.com/FreddyMacKay,
https://twitter.com/AngelMartinezrr,
https://twitter.com/amymaclane,
https://twitter.com/jcwallacebooks,
https://twitter.com/ElinGregory,
https://twitter.com/tali_spencer,
https://twitter.com/tinneantoo
Publisher: Wilde City Press, LLC
Cover
Artist: Adrian Nicholas
8-Apr
9-Apr
10-Apr
11-Apr
13-Apr
14-Apr
15-Apr
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Prizes:
3 eBooks of Foolish
Encounters
$10 Gift Certificate
$15 Gift Certificate
An eBook copy of They Come by Night by Tinnean,
An eBook copy of Snow on Spirit Bridge by Freddy MacKay
Choice of eBook from Angel Martinez's backlist
Choice of eBook from Elin's Gregory's backlist
Surprise prize from Tali Spencer
Choice of eBook from JC Wallace's backlist
$10 Gift Certificate
$15 Gift Certificate
An eBook copy of They Come by Night by Tinnean,
An eBook copy of Snow on Spirit Bridge by Freddy MacKay
Choice of eBook from Angel Martinez's backlist
Choice of eBook from Elin's Gregory's backlist
Surprise prize from Tali Spencer
Choice of eBook from JC Wallace's backlist
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Code:
And now for the interview! *Grin* Most of you know Tali and I have been good friends for years, lol. I had a blast interviewing her. I was also one of the beta's for the story! These questions are based on her book for the anthology. Enjoy!
~M
1. What research did you do for a story about spider
shifters?
My knowledge about spiders consisted mostly of childhood
adventures with tarantulas (thanks, El Paso) and a powerful respect for garden
spiders and their gorgeous, predatory webs. For “Well Hello, Eight Eyes” I
wanted more, and when I started looking into the mating habits of spiders I
discovered this video of an adorable little jumping spider. He’s tropical
and very colorful and I knew I had my spider. Cory is based on this little guy:
he’s red-haired, jumpy, and rather endearing (at least to his author).
I also researched jumping spiders native to the upper Great
Lakes, Native American mythology about spiders, and just basic spider behavior.
Most are very shy, understandably. And though jumping spiders do produce silk,
they use it to make tethers, hiding places, and bind their prey rather than to
build webs. These spiders also have great big (for their size) eyes—eight of
them—and very good, though complex, vision. So I worked with that and gave Cory
big pretty bottle-green eyes—but he has to wear glasses as a human because in
that form he’s near-sighted.
Female spiders are interesting, too. They’re usually
drabber, but also bigger. Many species devour their mates, or any male they can
capture, during the mating season. For that reason, the males are more than a
bit afraid of them.
2. In the story you mention a November Witch. What’s that?
I grew up in Wisconsin on the shores of Lakes Michigan and
Superior. The lakes are immense, very deep and cold, and create some fierce
weather. In late autumn, low pressure over the lakes pulls down cold
Canadian/Arctic air and also warm air up from the Gulf of Mexico. And that’s
what creates a November Witch—deluges of rain and strong, hurricane force winds
whipping up the water to create large waves. If you’ve ever heard the Gordon Lightfoot song “The
Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” you’ve heard about how dangerous these
storms are for even very large commercial ships. Small craft don’t go out if
they think conditions might deteriorate.
In “Well Hello, Eight Eyes” my protagonist, Tanner, goes out
in his small boat despite warnings because he wants to lay a wreath on the lake
at the spot of his lover’s death.
I took some liberties by creating an actual Witch, a native
entity my islanders once offended and who they still greatly respect. Native
American tribes around the Great Lakes believe in a water spirit that has
considerable sway and can be malevolent. Myths also include Spider as a nature
spirit.
3. Most people think spiders are creepy. Why write about
spiders?
Last year for April Fool’s Day, Rainbow Book Reviews held an
event wherein authors were asked to contribute their most outrageous prompts.
In a Facebook chat with Marc, who was running the event, I mentioned that my
most out-there story of all time involved spiders. He was hooked. Because…
spiders. He asked me to submit a prompt and I came up with one featuring
spiders, but much less perverted than my out-there story.
The event had readers vote for which stories they wanted to see get written. I guess they thought spider
shifters were just too fascinating to resist, because next thing I know, Marc
contacts me and says “Hey! I’ve got a publisher. Can you write that spider
shifter story?” Well, of course I could! And that’s how I ended up with a
spider shifter story in the Foolish
Encounters anthology.
4. The islanders in the story are spider shifters because of
a curse. How did they get cursed in the first place?
Because “Well Hello, Eight Eyes” is a short story, it doesn’t
really go into depth about the curse and how it happened. What happened is
this: in the late 1600s a group of French trappers set up camp in the area around
Green Bay. They learned that one of the tribes was bringing a large shipment of
beaver pelts to Montreal to trade. The pelts were worth a fortune. So the
greedy trappers, most of whom had taken native women as wives, came up with a
plan. A few of them arranged to travel with the tribe’s representatives (and
the pelts). What they did instead once out on the lake was kill the natives and
steal the pelts.
They hid the pelts on the island. A shaman for the tribe
tried to find out what happened to her husband and the other tribesmen. She
inquired of Spider, because spiders are clever and have vast webs, but Spider—whose
daughter loved one of the trappers—told her it was the Water Witch who had
killed the people. When the shaman discovered the truth, she had the trappers
and their women taken to the island. There she cursed them into spider form.
She could not wholly strip their humanity, though, so they are humans at night.
Spider, a trickster spirit, protected her children by weaving magic around the
island to conceal it. The Water Witch can carry a grudge, so the island’s
inhabitants are really wary about going out on the lake.
5. Do you think you might revisit this story in the future?
I’m tempted. I can see Cory wanting to go with Tanner to the
mainland. The logistics of that could be fascinating. How would Cory handle
being on the mainland during the day? Going out in public is not an option.
Tanner’s family might start to wonder why they never see Cory except after
dark. Someone with an active imagination might think Tanner is dating a
vampire. And of course I could explore the whole notion of spider silk and
bondage. Can Cory in his human form produce silk? Or would he need to do the
tying up while in spider form? A man and his spider love interest can have some
pretty interesting adventures!
Author Bio
Tali Spencer fell in love with writing at an early age and
never stopped. Thanks to a restless father, she grew up as a bit of a nomad and
still loves to travel whenever she can. Her longest stint in one place was
Milwaukee where she went to college, enjoyed a series of interesting careers,
and raised three surprisingly well-adjusted sons. She later married her true
love and put down new roots in Philadelphia, where she lives in an ongoing Italian
American family sitcom. At least she’s learned how make good pasta. When not
writing, Tali reads everything from sweet goofy romances to medical research,
manages her fantasy football team—go Gekkos!—and takes long walks with her
loving, if slightly neurotic, poodle.
Visit Tali’s blog at http://talismania-brilliantdisguise.blogspot.com
E-mail: tali.spencer1@gmail.com
E-mail: tali.spencer1@gmail.com
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6454423.Tali_Spencer
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tali.spencer
Twitter: @tali_spencer
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tali.spencer
Twitter: @tali_spencer
